Tornado & Friends Mainline Adventures
by DanBarr1704
Summary: Join Tornado and her friends for adventures and tales out on the mainlines of Great Britain. Most of these episodes will be parodies of classic Thomas episodes. Please review my episodes. All previous episodes edited and New Year series finale now up!
1. Tornado and The Tank Engine

_**Tornado and Friends Main Line Adventures**_

**Tonight - There's a tank engine on the main line, Kolhapur looks cross and Tornado tackles the Lickey Incline.**

Episode 1: Tornado and The Tank Engine

No. 60163 _'Tornado'_ is an LNER Peppercorn A1 Class steam locomotive, who works on the mainlines across Great Britain. She's a cheeky young engine who's very proud of her BR express blue paint, and is the first steam engine to be built by British Railways since BR Standard Class 9F no. 92220 _'Evening Star'_ back in 1960. She got her name after the RAF combat aircraft the _'Panavia Tornado'_, and has been working the mainline happily and successfully since completion in 2008, and certification in 2009. Tornado has lots of friends out on the mainline, but one autumn weekend, things changed dramatically.

It was 27th October, and Tornado was visiting Tyseley Locomotive Works for an open day. Also in attendance were GWR 4073 Castle Class no. 5043 _'Earl Of Mount Edgcumbe'_ and his sister no.5029 _'Nunney Castle'_, GWR 4900 Hall Class no.4965 _'Rood Ashton Hall'_ and his sister no.4936 _'Kinlet Hall'_ and GWR 5700 Class pannier tanks no.9600 and his brother no.7752, who was in late 60's lined LT livery and carries the number L94. Now, these tank engines were never originally given names, but because these two were mainline certified, **(but mainly for the sake of this series)**, they were given their own names. 9600 shall be given the name _'Swindon'_, after where most of the class was built **(Swindon Works)**, while L94 shall be given the name _'Pannier'_, after the type of locos they were **(but mostly because I couldn't think of any appropriate names for them!)**. It was 11am, and all the engines were gathered round the turntable with enthusiasts taking pictures of them. However, Tornado wasn't happy. She glared at Swindon and Pannier.

"I can't understand how two slow weak little tank engines like you two can possibly be mainline certified!" she complained, "How can you two be of any use to the fleet?!" Swindon and Pannier frowned hurtfully. The others heard Tornado and they weren't pleased.

"Hey back off Tornado!" said Earl of Mount Edgcumbe angrily.

"Yeah leave them alone!" agreed Nunney Castle.

"What they lack in size…" began Rood Ashton Hall.

"…They make up for in power!" finished Kinlet Hall.

"They do have their uses Tornado." said a cool, calm, feminine and collected voice. The engines looked over and saw LMS Jubilee Class no.(4)5593 _'Kolhapur'_ parked right next to them. They all stared at her. At last, after a long awkward silence, Pannier spoke up.

"Kolhapur how long have you been there?" he asked.

"What?!" Kolhapur exclaimed, "How have you not noticed me resting here waiting for my overhaul for the past few years?!"

It's funny isn't it?" Tornado smirked cheekily, " I'm the only A1 in existence, and there's four of you Jubilees Kolhapur, and yet I'm more useful than any of you four combined."

That's enough youngster." huffed Kolhapur crossly, "My sister Galatea's being just as useful as you out on the mainline. Now, getting back on topic Tornado, Swindon and Pannier may very well be tank engines, but whether it's on the mainline or preserved railways, these engines will always be useful, whether they're hauling coaches or trucks, shunting, or being a banker. As the Halls said, what they lack in size, they make up for in power."

"Besides Tornado," said Pannier, "Swindon's doing some shunting work at Bescot Yards tomorrow."

"Yeah, and that way Tornado," said Swindon confidently, "I can prove to you that we are really useful engines no matter what we do, or where we go." Tornado wheeshed steam bitterly, then her angry face quickly turned into a smug grin.

"And while you're failing to do that," she said smugly, "I'll be hauling 'The Britannia Banker' without any assistance what so ever."

"Can I just point out, that the reason you're hauling the train's because Britannia has broken down and her brother Oliver Cromwell's unavailable." said Rood Ashton Hall.

"You may struggle you know Tornado," said Nunney Castle, "It may be sunny now but there's a storm expected tonight, and with 'The Britannia Banker' you may find things rough going, especially on the Lickey Incline."

"So on that basis," Kinlet Hall smirked, "You may need, as the name goes, a _banker_ to help you."

"Me?! Need a banker?!" exclaimed Tornado bitterly, "I don't need any banker, I'll haul the train up the inline myself! I'll show you!" The other engines just laughed.

Later that afternoon, the engines were being kept busy…well except Kolhapur as she was waiting for overhaul, but the others had things to do. Nunney Castle, Rood Ashton Hall, Kinlet Hall and Pannier were still resting round the turntable waiting for their turn to go on it. Earl Of Mount Edgcumbe was on it at the moment being rotated the full 360 so enthusiasts can get some good snapshots of him. Meanwhile, Tornado was hauling other enthusiasts up and down the line around the works. She was still indignant over the fact that the others laughed at her saying she needed help on 'The Britannia Banker' tomorrow. As for Swindon, well he'd gone into the works shed. LMS Princess Royal Class no.(4)6201 _'Princess Elizabeth'_, or Lizzie as she'd liked to be known, was already inside undergoing overhaul, after the expiry of her boiler ticket. At this point in the overhaul, her boiler was still attached, so she was still able to talk to other engines, and that's exactly what Swindon wanted her to do. Miserably, he told the Princess about what Tornado had said.

"I probably should've known Tornado would be like this when she first came across you on the mainline." said Lizzie, "But you do have your uses Swindon."

"I know," said Swindon wistfully, "Kolhapur pointed some out, but I just hope I can prove to Tornado that I can be useful on the mainline."

"Oh I'm sure you will." said Lizzie comfortably, "Remember, you once banked me on the very same train up the very same incline." Swindon smiled weakly, but he still wasn't so sure, his confidence was fizzling out.

That night, Nunney Castle was right about the storm, it forced itself viciously down onto the engines, who had to sleep outside as there was no space for them to join Lizzie inside the shed because of other workings. Even though they were getting wet, their drivers had kept the firebox burning, so they were nice and warm, and didn't seem to mind the wet whether, even Kolhapur dodn't mind despite her firebox not starting as her overhal was overdue. However, the storm, as predicted, was blowing leaves onto the track, especially on the Lickey Incline. The next morning, the storm had died down and no major damage was done around town, but the clouds hovered in front of the sky, but sunny spells were forecast, however the Lickey Incline was covered in red, orange, yellow and brown leaves. Despite this, Tornado and Swindon set off out of Tyseley and onwards to their respective jobs. Tornado set off to collect her coaches for 'The Britannia Banker', while Swindon went on his way towards Bescot Yard for his shunting duties. A few hours later, Swindon arrived at the yard and saw the trucks waiting to be shunted.

"Right, time to show Tornado that I can be a really useful engine on the mainline." he said feeling his confidence rising inside him again. And with that, he set off to work. He spent the morning and afternoon shunting the trucks to where they were needed. Some trucks were shunted into long lines for goods trains and the diesels hauling them were very impressed with the hard work Swindon was putting in. Swindon was enjoying himself, it was fun biffing and bashing the trucks to where they were needed. He started wondering if Tornado was enjoying herself. And, speaking of the devil, We join Tornado as she was making her merry way along the mainline with 'The Britannia Banker', consisting of 10 filled to the brim and very heavy coaches swaying along the track right behind her. Earlier, Tornado got the train off to a slippy start, but got it going with no major issues, and now the train was cruising along the line. At this point in the journey, the Lickey Incline was in the distance. Her driver and fireman were using the sanding gear to prevent her wheels from slipping of the wet rails. Suddenly, as the incline fast approached, there was trouble.

"Looks like you'll need to go to the works after this trip Tornado," said the fireman, "Your sanding gear has failed."

"Oh dear." replied the driver worriedly, "How are we gonna get up that leaf-stained incline without any sand for Tornado to grip the rails?"

"And of course, there's 10 fully packed and very heavy coaches right behind us." added the fireman. Tornado was feeling unfazed by the worrying news.

"Uh hello! You two seem to be forgetting the other reason as to why I'm called Tornado!" she said turning upbeat, "It's because I'm fast and can do the damage! I don't need any sand, I'll be able to get up that incline, no trouble at all."

"I suppose we could give it a try." said the fireman nervously.

"OK, full steam ahead Tornado!" called the driver positively as he opened Tornado's regulator all the way in the knowledge that Tornado was gonna need all the power she could muster to get up that slippery incline.

"Right, time to show Swindon that I don't need a banker to get up this slope no matter what state it's in!" said a determined Tornado. She charged at the incline at fast as she could.

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" she puffed. Things went well at first, but after reaching about half way, Tornado started to slow down. The fireman was shovelling coal into the firebox furiously in an attempt to keep the train going. But it wasn't working. As Tornado pace continued to reduce, steam was shooting all over the place, it fired from the pistons, while black smoke bellowed from her funnel. However, despite all her efforts, Tornado continued to go slower and slower, until she was eventually climbing at a snails pace.

"I must do it, I must do it!" she panted, but she had finally come to a stop with her wheels slipping on the leaves. She couldn't pull the train at all now. Suddenly, the train started to slide back down the incline.

"Help, Help!" Tornado screamed. Her wheels were turning forward, but the combination of the heavy coaches, the leaves and the broken sanding gear meaning no grip was pulling her backwards. The whole train started slipping down the incline. Realising that they weren't going any further without help, the driver shut off steam and put on the brakes and carefully, he stopped the train at the bottom of the incline. After catching their breath, the driver and fireman made a decision.

"I'll go and get help." said the driver and off he went down the line.

"Never mind Tornado." said the fireman, "You tried." Tornado said nothing, she was very red-faced with both tiredness and embarrassment. Back with Swindon, he had just finished his shunting work, when a workman came up to him urgently.

"You need to help Tornado, she's stuck on the incline.", the workman said.

"I guess she does need a banker after all." laughed Swindon as he set off to the rescue. When he arrived at the incline, he came up to the red-faced Tornado.

"Looks like the Lickey Incline claims another victim." Swindon joked. Tornado remained silent. "Ah well, we live and learn. Never mind young Tornado, I'm going to push from behind." And with that, Swindon made his way to the back of the train. He was buffered up instead of coupled up, that way Tornado would then be able to run on without stopping when they reached the top of the incline. With a whistle signalling he was ready, Swindon pushed and Tornado pulled. Clouds of smoke and steam towered from the snorting engines.

"We can do it." puffed Tornado.

"We will do it." replied Swindon. At last, after much huffing and puffing, they reached the top of the incline. Tornado whistled thank you and Swindon whistled you're welcome in return as he watched Tornado race into the distance. Thanks to Swindon, Tornado met the scheduled station arrival times on the timetable…just.

That evening, as the sun was setting behind the clouds, Tornado was on her way to Tyseley Locomotive Works to get her sanding gear fixed. As she puffed down a piece of open countryside, she found Swindon resting in a siding taking on water. She stopped next to him.

"Swindon, I'm sorry for making fun of you and Pannier. You have proven to me that you really are useful wherever you go. I now know not to judge a book by its cover", said Tornado apologetically.

"You're forgiven Tornado, but how can you say that when I'm not a book?" replied Swindon making Tornado giggle softly, "I guess Lizzie was right after all." Both engines laughed. Just then Tornado noticed something. A group of boy scouts were camping out in the open field next to Swindon. The scout leader came over to them.

"Sorry to disrupt you two." he said, "But do you think you can help me get my boy scouts to sleep?"

"As it happens, I think I know a way. Tell them to get in their sleeping bags, close their eyes and listen to me." Swindon instructed. So the scout leader told his scouts to sleeping bags, and as soon as they did, and their eyes were closed, they were told to listen to Swindon.

"Alright kids," began Swindon, "I want you to picture the following place in your mind."

_(Swindon sings the TTTE Island Song)_

_Picture a land where the sky is so blue,_

_A story book land of wonder,_

_A magical island, just waiting for you,_

_Island of Sodor, will make your dreams come true._

_Imagine a place where the sun always smiles,_

_The valleys are green as can be,_

_The friends that you love are all waiting for you,_

_Island of Sodor, will make your dreams come true._

_Children, follow the dream,_

_To a land of make belief,_

_The Island of Sodor,_

_Magical land where dreams come true._

_(Swindon speaks normally)_

_Follow the road, that leads to your dream,_

_Over the hills and mountains,_

_Look to the skies, with stars in their eyes._

_(Swindon goes back to his singing voice)_

_Island of Sodor, will make your dreams come true._

_Children, follow the dream,_

_To a land of make belief,_

_The Island of Sodor,_

_Magical land where dreams come true._

_The Island of Sodor,_

_Magical land where dreams come true._

As Swindon finished singing, he, Tornado and the scout leader saw that the scouts had fallen happily asleep.

"Thank you." said the scout leader quietly as he made his way to the sleeping bunch. Tornado was breath taken from what she just heard.

"That was amazing Swindon." she gasped, "I never knew you could sing."

"Well doing that was the only thing I could think of." Swindon replied, "Besides, personally speaking, I think my singing is rubbish."

"What're you talking about, you're an amazing singer." said Tornado as Swindon smiled weakly in respense, "By the way, do you really think that this _'Island of Sodor'_ is out there somewhere?" she asked.

"Only in your dreams Tornado, only on your dreams." Swindon sighed happily. After a few moments of silence, Tornado spoke.

"Well I've got to go." she said.

"Ok, bye Tornado." replied Swindon, "Hope your sanding gear gets fixed." And with that, Tornado set off into the sunset. Tornado had learned not to judge an engine by its appearance, or to judge a book by its cover as she and Swindon put it, and she was happy to have made a new friend.

**Well, that's it, that's episode 1 done. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	2. Tangmere's Ghostly Trick

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - We hear a story within a story, Tangmere changes colour and Tornado gets a fright.**

Episode 2: Tangmere's Ghostly Trick

"_And every year on the date of the accident, it runs again, as a warning to others. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul!"_

"Tangmere, what're you talking about?" asked Tornado. She, SR Battle of Britain Class No.34067 _'Tangmere' _and SR Merchant Navy Class No.35028 _'Clan Line' _were resting at King's Cross engine shed getting ready for their days work.

"The ghost train" replied Tangmere, "My driver saw it last night."

"Where?" asked Clan Line.

"He didn't say. Ooh, it makes my wheels wobble to think of it."

"Huh!" huffed Tornado, "You're just a silly old engine you know Tangmere." she said smirking smugly, "I'm not scared." And with a blow of her chime whistle, Tornado puffed confidently away to work. Later that morning, Tangmere was alone in the shed. Her driver and fireman arrived just as she was ready to go to work.

"Tornado didn't believe in your ghost." Tangmere said to her driver, who laughed in response.

"Neither do I." he replied, "It was a pretend ghost on television." Tangmere was disappointed.

That evening, after Tangmere had finished her work, she was on her way back to King's Cross shed for a well earned rest. It was gonna be quite a journey to get there, but she didn't mind as she enjoyed long distance runs, besides, she liked running at night, the rails hummed beneath her wheels, and signal lights brightly shone as green as a gemstone. Further down the line was a level crossing, but this one was small and had no gates. It was next to a farm. The farmer of this farm was always careful when going over the crossing because he had to keep his ears open for approaching trains. Tonight though, he had a job to do that required him to cross the tracks. He was riding one of his horses who was attached to a cart of lime. The cart was old and weak. The wood it was made of wouldn't be used in any building projects anytime soon, but it was all the farmer had, so he was gonna have to be careful over the crossing. When he arrived at the crossing, he stopped and listened carefully…no sounds of engines. With this knowledge, he began to cross. He and the horse made it over safely. However, when the cart crossed the first piece of track, the wheels came loose and shattered. The cart crashed down, right in the middle of the track. Fortunately, the lime was unharmed. Without wishing to panic, the farmer knew he had to get help. He unattached the horse from the fallen cart, hoped onto the horses back and trotted off in search of help, thinking the next train wasn't due for an hour. Unfortunately, he'd completely forgotten about Tangmere, who was just rounding the bend when her bright headlamp spotted the destroyed cart of lime fast approaching at the crossing.

"Stop!" she cried. Her driver and fireman also saw the cart dead ahead. They applied the brakes and jumped clear. But it was already too late. Tangmere closed her eyes and awaited the upcoming impact. There was a loud crash as she broke the cart to smithereens. Lime flew and floated everywhere. After checking that Tangmere wasn't hurt, her driver and fireman took her to the nearest signal box. Clan Line was already there resting in a siding in front of the signal box. She couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles at the sight of Tangmere covered in bright white lime.

"I know they all call you the dirty lady Tangmere, but this' just ridiculous." she giggled. Tangmere's driver spoke to the signalman about the accident.

"I'll see to it." said the signalman, "But you'd better clean Tangmere, or people will think she's a ghost." Tangmere chuckled as an idea stoked itself into her firebox.

"Do lets pretend I'm a ghost, and scare Tornado, that'll teach her for saying I'm a silly old engine." she said spinning her eyes in excitement. Clan Line promised to help. She told Tangmere that Tornado was hauling an evening special tonight, and that by now, she'll be back at King's Cross shed getting oiled. After they arranged a plan, Clan Line set off for King's Cross shed to put the plan into action. As she went, owls were hooting loudly and the moon was shining at its brightest. Tree branches were pointing sharply and dangerously towards her, wanting to scratch her sparkling green paint, and the mist was hovering effortlessly in all directions. She soon arrived at the shed tender first, the shed door closing when she entered. Tornado was indeed already inside being oiled for her evening special.

"Tangmere has had an accident." cried Clan Line.

"Poor engine." replied Tornado bluntly. Then she realised something. "Botheration, that means I'll be late!"

"They've cleared the line for you, but there's something worse." said Clan Line worryingly.

"Out with it Clan Line!" said Tornado impatiently, "I can't wait all evening!"

"I-I've just seen something." Clan Line stuttered, "It looked like Tangmeres ghost. It said it was, w-was coming here t-t-to warn us."

"Huh! Who cares!" Tornado spat in response, "Don't be frightened Clan Line I'll take care of you." she added sarcastically, clearly not believing Clan Line's tale. Meanwhile outside, a lime covered Tangmere had just arrived at the shed and stopped outside. Only Tornado's berth shed door was open, so thankfully as it was part of the plan, she couldn't see her covered in lime. She took a deep breath and in her best ghostly sounding voice, whaled…

"Beep! Beep! Bip-bip-bip-BEEP! Let me in! Let me in!" Tornado was startled. Clan Line saw this and realised the plan was working. She quickly got back into character.

"No! No!" she cried, "Not by the smoke on my chimney-chim-chim!"

"I'll chuff, and I'll puff, and I'll break your door in!" whaled Tangmere as her berths shed doors slowly creaked open.

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Tornado, "It's getting late, ooh I'd no idea, oh I must find my coaches!" And with that, she hurried away frightened out of her steam. Tangmere and Clan Line laughed, their ghostly trick had worked.

Tornado didn't return to the shed until next morning. She was still gob smacked by what happened last night. Clan Line was still parked inside the shed.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Ah well" said Tornado, "I knew you'd be said about Tangmere and I err, I didn't like to intrude. I slept in the goods shed and…" Before she could continue, they suddenly heard Tangmere's whistle. Tornado however mistook it for a ghost whistle, her mind was still locked on the events of last night, that she completely forgot about what Tangmere's whistle sounded like. "Oh, sorry, can't stop, got to see a coach about a train!" And with a blow of the whistle by her cab, she hastily puffed out of the shed. Tangmere was none the worst for her adventure, and was still enjoying herself enormously. She had heard everything. She had just had a wash down and was now back to her original dark green paint. She entered the shed and parked next to Clan Line.

"Well, well, well, what do you know about that?" she asked smiling.

"Anyone would think" chuckled Clan Line, "That our Tornado had just seen a **GHOST**." She said the word _ghost_ so spookily and loud enough for it to echo around the shed. The two engines laughed, last night was one they'll definitely never forget.

**Well, that's it, episode 2's done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Ghost Train/Percy's Ghostly Trick'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise If it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, have a happy Halloween, don't have nightmares, goodnight!**


	3. Lost in the Fog

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - the tracks are all foggy, Braunton has a problem and we learn how a breakdown crane works.**

Episode 3: Lost in the Fog

It was a lovely morning in Great Britain…actually I take that back, it was actually looking rather gloomy as pure grey clouds were gathering in the sky. However no rain was forecast today, so what could this mean? Well, Tornado was chuffing merrily on a countryside her way to work. She looked over to her left and spotted something over the hills.

"Oh err driver," she said cautiously, "I think there's smoke across there, and it's not coming from me." Her driver chuckled at her little joke before answering.

"No, that's not smoke Tornado." he replied, That's hill fog, and it's getting thicker by the minute. If it gets any thicker, drivers like me will have a worse sense of direction than James May." Tornado couldn't help but giggle at her drivers remark. Him just mentioning the name James May brought back memories of when she took part in a Top Gear race from London to Edinburgh. Although she enjoyed the journey, especially with Jeremy Clarkson as her fireman, and the race, she was disappointed that James somehow managed to beat her in what was once known as the fastest car in the world, a Jaguar XK120. Ah well, at least she finished well ahead of Richard Hammond who was on what was once known as the fastest bike in the world, a Vincent Blackshadow. Those were the days. Just then, as she trundled happily along, she came across a red signal. She had to stop. She noticed that parked next to her in a siding taking on water was rebuilt SR West Country Class No.34046 _'Braunton'_. Now for those of you who don't know Braunton, she's the newest member to the mainline fleet. Upon the eventual completion of her restoration, she was granted her mainline certificate following successful tests…however this did take place only three months ago. So Braunton is the fleets newest member, while Tornado is the youngest. The duo have got on well since Braunton joined the fleet.

"Hey Braunton." said Tornado, "You see that hill fog over there?". Braunton looked over and noticed the hill fog in the distance closing in on them.

"Oh man." Braunton groaned, "What a time to forecast a foggy day, I'm working the Torbay Express today."

"Lets hope you don't get lost, eh newbie?" Tornado smirked cheekily.

"Oh don't you worry about me youngster." replied Braunton, "I can take care of myself."

Later that morning, Braunton was coupled up to her coaches for the Torbay Express. The fog was continuing to cave in on her, but she remained remarkably calm about it all. Just then, the guard blew his whistle. Braunton whistled in return, and she began to pull her 8-coach train along the line. As the journey ventured further, the fog was gathering pace, it looked as though it was gonna cover the whole landscape any minute, but Braunton continued to remain unfazed, there was no stopping her…well, until her fireman received a phone call.

"Just received word down the line that the fog is now too thick for anyone to see or work." he said, "And that all trains must stop at the nearest station for service termination." Braunton was relieved by this news.

"Thank god for that." she replied, "I can't see anymore." She tried narrowing her eyes in the hopes of a better view, but it failed miserably. Even her weak headlamp wasn't offering any hope, as it wasn't shining bright enough for her to see ahead. Dawlish Warren was the next station, and when they arrived, her driver had to use a torch to uncouple her from the coaches, and on this occasion, even an easy job like that was easier said than done, but he managed it eventually. Along with the fog, it was also very cold and Braunton wanted to return to her nice warm shed, but her driver and fireman weren't really convinced.

"How are we supposed to reach our respective homes without getting lost in the fog?", asked the fireman worryingly.

"How about we take it carefully." Braunton suggested confidently, "That way we won't have an accident should we go the wrong way."

"But how will we know we're going the right way?" asked the driver desperately, "We don't have maps of the tracks you know!"

"Trust me." replied Braunton calmly, "I'm sure I'll be back at my shed before dark." Realising that Braunton had made her decision, the driver and fireman reluctantly accepted defeat, fired her up, and their worrying journey home began. Remembering she was in the seaside town of Dawlish in south Devon, she chuffed carefully around Langstone Rock and cautiously along the rails next to the seawall and through the tunnel at the end. She ventured further down the line. A set of points was up ahead. Now, for Braunton to get closer to her shed, she had to go straight over the points, however they were set for Braunton to go down the track heading to the left, and to rub salt into the wound, because of the fog, neither Braunton, or her driver and fireman noticed this. They went over the points, completely unaware that they were now travelling in the wrong direction.

"I must get home, I must get home." said Braunton desperately, completely forgetting about being careful. Then there was trouble. Her faint headlamp suddenly fizzled out. She was now completely blind. And to add to that, there was a set of buffers ahead. It turns out she had been sent into a siding by the points. Braunton failed to see the buffers until it was too late. She crashed through the buffers shattering it into smithereens, bounced over the soggy grass and eventually came to a stop, leaning against a tree after losing her balance. Her eyes rolled furiously. She finally won back control of them after a few seconds.

"Bust my buffers!" she cried, "And don't start making jokes about what I just said following what I just did!" Her driver and fireman weren't hurt, but worried. They tried calling for help, but their phones failed to receive any signal. There was no denying it now, they were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

"Looks like we're gonna have to wait for help." said the driver.

Meanwhile, Tornado was resting alone at Kings Cross shed. She was however beginning to worry. Where was Braunton? Tornado knew that for Braunton to get to her shed, she had to pass Kings Cross, but it was 4pm, and there was still no sign of her. Where could she be? Eventually, Tornado made a decision, but she had to ask her driver and fireman first.

"Can we go and look for Braunton, she hasn't past us for hours?" she asked.

"We certainly can." replied her driver and fireman confidently together. So they fired up Tornado, switched on her headlamp which, as it was stronger than Brauntons, would be able to see what was ahead of them…just.

"Now lets go and find my friend." said a determined Tornado. With a blow of her chime whistle, Tornado set off into the thickness of the fog. She searched all over Great Britain, whether it's in junctions, goods yards or sheds, the search wasn't going very well, because no matter where they looked, Braunton was nowhere to be seen. After a whole 45 minutes of searching, Tornado decided to search along the route Braunton would've taken for the Torbay Express. She rounded a bend, when her headlamp faintly spotted something in the distance. It was another engine, but unfortunately it wasn't Braunton. It was however on the same track! Realising this, Tornado gasped in horror. Her driver quickly applied the brakes and she shut her eyes. Eventually, after much flying sparks and screeching from her wheels against the tracks, she skidded to a halt, right in front of the engine.

"Tornado? What're you doing here?" spoke the sound of a posh feminine voice. Tornado opened her eyes and saw LNER A4 Class No.60009 _'Union of South Africa'_ gazing questioningly at her.

"I might ask you the same thing." replied Tornado confused.

"You're probably doing what I'm doing, and that's looking for Braunton. At some point during your part of the search, your driver called mine requesting my assistance." Union of South Africa answered.

"So we're both on the same mission then, and so far we've both had no luck." said Tornado frowning. Just then, Union of South Africa noticed that resting between them was a set of points that led into what looked rather like the wilderness because of the fog.

"Maybe Braunton went down that way. I'll go and have a look." she said and set off down that line. Tornado stayed behind, well she had to now that the points was against her. Union of South Africa ventured down the siding, her headlamp shining brightly and forging the way forward. Then an idea flew into her funnel. If she blew her whistle, if Braunton was here, she'll hopefully whistle back. So, with one big puff, Union of South Africa blew her whistle as loudly as she could. At the end of the siding, Braunton had indeed heard the A4s whistle. She was happy to find that help was close by, the search party hadn't yet found her but they were very close. There was nothing for it, Braunton had to whistle back. So, with the biggest puff she probably ever puffed, Braunton blew her whistle as loud as possible. Union of South Africa heard the whistle and carried on eagerly down the siding. When she reached the end, the search officially came to a close. There was Braunton perched against the tree pinned in the soggy grass.

"Braunton!" Union of South Africa called out, "Are you ok?"

"I'm ok!" Braunton replied, "But you'd better get me back onto the rails ASAP, I don't think this tree's gonna be able to withstand my weight any longer!" Upon the recognition of the emergency, Union of South Africa raced back to Tornado.

"Tornado, go and get a breakdown crane, Braunton's derailed at the end of this siding!" she said urgently. Tornado hurried away to find the nearest breakdown crane. After a few minutes, she came back hastily.

"That was quick." Union of South Africa remarked.

"They don't call me _Tornado_ for nothing." replied Tornado proudly, "Now show me the way to Braunton." Union of South Africa got out of the way so Tornado could reverse the breakdown crane to Braunton. When they reached her, the workmen who came with Tornado quickly got to work. They attached hooks to Braunton, and one workman operated the crane. The crane had to move Braunton away from the tree before it collapsed against her weight, which would send Braunton onto her side and make the job even harder. Steam shot out of the crane as it began to take the strain. Braunton was very heavy, but thankfully it didn't require an awful lot of effort to get Braunton standing again. After a few minutes, there was no strain on the chains of the crane, and Braunton was standing straight again. She breathed a big sigh of relief, especially as it was at that moment, there was a loud crack and the tree she was leaning on eventually couldn't stay standing any longer. It toppled down to the ground with a loud crash. It was also fortunate that Braunton was perfectly in line with rails.

"Alright Braunton, we're just gonna get the crane out of the way." said Union of South Africa. She and Tornado made their way back to the points and left the crane on the track Tornado arrived on. They then returned with the workmen who had brought some rope with them.

"Ok Braunton, we can't use the crane as it doesn't have any tracks to lift you onto, so the workmen are going to attach some rope to you and Tornado, so she can pull you back onto the rails." Union of South Africa instructed. "Are you up for it Tornado?"

"I'm ready when Braunton is." Tornado replied confidently. The workmen gave the thumbs up meaning Braunton and Tornado were now joined together by the strong rope.

"Ready Braunton?" asked Union of South Africa.

"Go for it Tornado!" replied Braunton. So Tornado began to pull. Braunton was indeed very heavy, even the strong rope was already feeling the strain, let alone the chains on the breakdown crane. Tornado puffed and pulled and pulled and puffed. Braunton was slowly but surely edging closer to the rails, but now to get her onto them, starting with the tender. Tornado continued to pull, her recently fixed sanding gear was working a treat, giving her excellent grip on the rails. The wheels of the tender eventually started to meet the rails and after much puffing and pulling, the tender was back on the tracks. However, Tornado now faced the hardest part of the operation, getting Braunton herself back onto the tracks.

"Keep pulling Tornado, just got to get Braunton herself back onto the rails now!" encouraged Union of South Africa who was moving backwards out of Tornados way. She could see the strain on Tornado's face, her cheeks were pure red. Tornado didn't want stop though, and she continued to puff and pull, her wheels spun and spun as they were running out of sand to get grip from. At this point in the operation, Braunton's pony truck **(the set of wheels below her cab) **was now back on the rails, now for the main drive wheels. Tornado's wheels continued to spin furiously. If engines could sweat, Tornado would be showered in it by now. Her fireman was working hastily in the cab, shovelling coal into her firebox as fast as he possibly could to keep her steaming and her driver working the regulator as best as he could to keep her pulling, and their efforts were now really beginning to pay off as the first pair of Braunton's driving wheels reconnected with the rails, shortly followed by the second pair. As the third and final pair rejoined the tracks, Tornado eased off and carefully and successfully pulled Braunton clear of the end of the tracks. All the workmen cheered and Union of South Africa blew her whistle ecstatically.

"You did it Tornado, you did it!" she cheered.

"Well done Tornado." congratulated her driver and fireman.

"Thank you Tornado." said Braunton smiling gratefully. Tornado just breathed heavily and smiled weakly in response. It wasn't just her cheeks, her whole face was now pure red with pure exhaustion. The workmen then preceded to unattached Tornado and Braunton from the rope. When they were finished, they started work on fixing the broken buffers, which will probably take them awhile. Union of South Africa pulled both Tornado and Braunton back to the points. Then she coupled them up to the breakdown crane and pushed the three of them towards Kings Cross shed in what looked like very strange looking light engine movement. As they went along the fog was starting to lift and rise out of their faces. Eventually, by the time they reached the shed and uncoupled the breakdown crane next to it, the fog was gone and the clouds were clearing in the sky. The three engines were now in Kings Cross shed reflecting the days events.

"Thanks so much for rescuing me you two. I promise not to do that again." Braunton smiled but she was still fretting over what she'd done.

"Oh it was nothing Braunton." replied Union of South Africa, "Just remember that for next time this sort of event happens…which will be very unlikely, just stay where you are and await further information. Besides, Tornado deserves more credit for pulling you back onto the rails." The duo looked over at Tornado and realised that she had fallen asleep.

"Well, I suppose you can't really blame her." remarked Braunton. She and Union of South Africa laughed, Tornado had certainly had a tiring day and she can be happy in the knowledge that her worm parts from the rescue will be mended in the morning.

**Well, there we go, that's episode 3 done! Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thank you so much for reading, goodnight!**


	4. A Scarf for Tornado

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - Braunton makes an unfunny little joke, some inspectors pay a visit and Tornado looks like a blue painted, trouser wrapped jam jar.**

Episode 4: A Scarf for Tornado

It was a cold winters morning in Great Britain, The wind was bitter and the ground hard with frost. Tornado and Braunton were at Kings Cross shed feeling very irritated, let alone cold. They were waiting for the firelighter to arrive to light up their fireboxes.

"All I want is a warm boiler." huffed Braunton, "Firelighter knows that, he's late!"

"He's not late." replied Tornado, "This freezing weather woke us up early." Gusts of wind swirled round the shed, tossing flakes of snow towards Braunton. They then whooshed round Tornado to.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" suggested a shivering Tornado.

"Yes." replied Braunton, "Like how silly we look when our funnels turn into icicles."

"That's not funny. Maybe we'll stop feeling cold if we talk about warm things like sunshine and steam."

"And firelighters." muttered Braunton.

…

"Scarves!" continued Tornado.

"Scarves?" laughed Braunton, "That's what you need Tornado, a woolly scarf around your funnel." Braunton was only teasing but Tornado thought blissfully about scarves until the firelighter eventually arrived.

A bunch of rail inspectors were going on a tour along the mainline to inspect the track. They wanted to make sure the tracks were still in good working condition for the engines to run on them safely, especially in weather like this. The head inspector was in his hotel room. He had just finished his breakfast of hot porridge and he pressed his special new trousers, why I don't know!

"I shall pack them in my suitcase and change into them just before the photographs are taken.", he said to his wife, then he set off, holding his suitcase in his right hand with his trousers packed inside, to meet up with the rest of the inspectors.

The wind had now stopped whooshing, but the ground was still littered with frost. Tornado was now hard at work, taking an morning passenger train along a piece of frozen countryside. Her fire was burning nicely, and she had plenty of steam. But she was still thinking about scarves. Wherever she went, whether it was passengers or workmen, she saw everyone wearing a scarf. She arrived at the next station up ahead. Tangmere was in the station siding taking on coal.

"My funnel's cold, my funnel's cold!" complained Tornado, "I want a scarf, I want a scarf!"

"Rubbish Tornado!" exclaimed Tangmere, "Engines don't wear scarves."

"Engines with proper funnels do." huffed Tornado, "You've only got a hole in your roof for your smoke to escape from." Tangmere felt insulted, but before she could answer, Tornado puffed impatiently away. Tangmere wheeshed steam and snorted indignantly. She was at least looking forward to pulling the special train, which basically means she was chosen to take the inspectors on their tour.

Later that afternoon, it was time for the photographs. All the inspectors were looking forward to getting started. The head inspector was waiting on the platform for his trousers. They were in a suitcase amongst a big load of baggage. The porters were escorting the baggage trolley across the line. They were walking backwards to make sure that nothing fell off. However, after finishing her morning passenger train, Tornado was still being cheeky. Her driver always shut off steam just outside the station. Tornado wanted to surprise the coaches and coming in as quietly as she could. But the porters didn't hear her either…somehow. With a loud bump, Tornado forged through the trolley, knocking the frightened porters backwards and onto their backsides out of the way. Boxes and bags burst into the air. When Tornado finally stopped her eyes from spinning, she looked up and noticed the boxes and bags starting to fall back down towards everyone.

"Oh!" groaned Tornado as the boxes and bags crashed down, not only all over Tornado, but the rail inspectors also felt the same familiar pain. Everyone was covered in sticky streams of jam. **(why would some rail inspectors carry jam in their bags?)** The jam trickled down Tornado's face, a top hat hung on her lamp iron, but worst of all, a pair of trousers coiled lovingly around her funnel. All the inspectors stared furiously at Tornado. The head inspector seized the top hat.

"Mine!" he bluntly stated angrily, "Tornado, look at this!"

"Yes sir, I am sir." replied Tornado apologetically turning her eyes towards the jam stained top hat. Then the head inspector pointed at what was resting around her funnel and between her smoke deflectors.

"My best trousers too!"

"Yes sir, please sir."

"Thanks to you, we must now pay for our spoiled clothes to get cleaned at the nearest laundrette, and most crucially, my trousers are ruined! Your driver told me over the phone that you liked playing tricks on the coaches by entering stations as quietly as possible, well I hope this'll teach you not to do that again in future!" Poor Tornado scampered off to the yard, she felt very frivolous. While on her journey to the yards, she came across Clan Line resting in a siding.

"Hello Tornado, so you've found a scarf eh? But you do know that it's legs that fit snugly into trousers, not funnels." And she hurried away eagerly so she can tell Tangmere the very amusing news.

That evening as the sun was setting behind the clouds, Tornado and Braunton were resting back at Kings Cross shed. Tornado's driver had taken away the trousers and had given Tornado a good rub down.

"Firelighters promised to come early tomorrow." said Braunton. Just then, Tangmere arrived. She had finished taking the inspectors along the mainline. She enjoying the journey especially as the inspectors seemed impressed. But now though, she felt sympathetic towards Tornado too.

"Driver says the weather's gonna be whole lot warmer tomorrow." she reported, "So I don't think you're gonna be needing a scarf, eh Tornado?"

"Certainly not." replied Tornado, "Engines don't wear scarves, all an engine needs is a warm boiler, everyone knows that!"

**Well, there we go. That's episode 4 done and dusted. Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'A Scarf for Percy'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. A huge thanks goes to **_**'tate310'**_** for giving me the idea. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	5. Sovereign's Derailment

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - a fat man delivers a message, a part of a new character catches fire and Tornado discovers the breakdown train **_**(Tornado: I already know what a breakdown train is…!)**_

Episode 5: Sovereign's Derailment

Mr George Walkers, aka the Fat Director, is a short and stout man who's in charge of every single mainline steam operation all across Great Britain. Wearing his trusty white top hat, jacket and trousers, his grey waistcoat and black tie and shoes, he would certainly stand out in a crowd because of his lack of fashion sense, but he's a proud person who has the final decision on whether steam services should be allowed to continue should it run into a problem or whether it should be terminated if the problem's deadly serious. Like most bosses, he can be stern and strict when things do go wrong, especially if the engine's the main source of blame, however everyone's fortunate that he always seems to know what to do to solve these problems. All the engines are happy to have him in charge as he always seems to know what to do. Everyday, he would come into London to catch his early morning train, which would normally be hauled by Union of South Africa, and today was no exception. Occasionally, he'd also come into the yard where he'd find Tornado warming up for the day. Today, Tornado had just woken up by the time he arrived.

"Hello Tornado." he said to her, "After your recent events Tornado, I've decided that you can have the day off. Remember though, should you want to go out onto the mainline today, be careful of traffic and also remember not to be impatient if you have to stop at a red signal, everyday's a busy day."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." smiled Tornado happily. As much as she loved working passenger services out on the mainline, it was nice to get the day off every now and then.

"Also, don't be surprised of you see your steam engine friends hauling goods trains today, apparently the country's currently in the middle of an oil shortage and that includes diesel oil. We still have enough oil for your joints and all that, but there's not enough diesel oil left for the diesel engines, so I've had to persuade some of the steam engines to haul the goods trains today. They weren't convinced, but reluctantly accepted. So, if you see a steam engine pulling trucks today, you'll know why." added the Fat Director.

"Ok sir" replied Tornado. And with that, the Fat Director left to catch his train which will take him to his office at the main station. Tornado remained in the yard so she can take on water. She slowly made her way to the water tower. Her driver and fireman exited the cab and started work. The fireman took the hose from the water tower, while the driver climbed onto the tender and open Tornado's filler cap. The fireman passed the hose over to the driver, who then carefully placed the hose over the filler cap. The fireman then turned on the hose tap, making the water shoot along the hose and through the filler cap into Tornado's tender. Tornado looked around the yard. She noticed a small dark green coloured works unit coach and it was coupled up to two big red things. These are what her driver and fireman call cranes. The driver noticed where Tornado was looking.

"That's the breakdown train Tornado." he told her.

"Yes, I already know what a breakdown train is!" retorted Tornado angrily, "Union of South Africa and myself used one to rescue Braunton and get her back onto the rails remember?!"

"Oh yeah." sighed the driver as he hung his head in embarrassment as the memories flooded back into his head.

"You know absolutely nothing don't you mate?" laughed the fireman. The driver shook his head, still managing a weak smile through his flushed face, which was now as red as a tomato with humiliation. Tornado couldn't help but giggle.

That afternoon, Tornado was still in the yard, however she was this time taking on more coal. Workmen were using a JCB in order to collect the coal which was littered all over the ground, and then scoop it up into the bucket of the JCB so it can transfer the coal over to Tornados tender. Tornado sighed happily as she relaxed in the sun, her BR express blue paint twinkled in the sunshine, not even the soot from the coal was able to spoil this sparkling paintwork. However, just as she began to doze off, she was suddenly woken up by the sound of an engine whistling urgently.

"Help, help!" A goods train came rushing through along the mainline much too fast. The engine was LMS Stanier Black 5 Class No.44871 _'Sovereign'_, and she was frightened, her brake blocks were on fire. Sparks were shooting out from beneath her in all directions. And to add insult to injury…

"They're pushing me, they're pushing me!" she panted.

"On, on, on!" laughed the trucks.

"Oh why did the Fat Director decide to have me as one of the engines to replace the diesels on the goods trains following the announcement of the diesel oil shortage?!" she cried. Still whistling "Help, help!" poor Sovereign disappeared into the distance. A watching Tornado helplessly looked down the line in the direction Sovereign went.

"I might not be a goods engine, but I'd still like to teach those trucks a lesson." she said eagerly. Her chance came sooner than expected. Just as she said this, the alarm on the signal box a few metres down the line suddenly went off, sounding long and loud. The signalman emerged from the signal box.

"Sovereign's off the line, the breakdown train quickly!" he called out urgently to Tornado. This was a real emergency. Realising this, Tornado hastily changed tracks, coupled up to the breakdown train and the works unit coach for the workmen, and set off to the rescue. As she left the yard pushing the cranes, Tornado worked at her hardest, desperate to get to the scene of the crash.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" she puffed. She wasn't pretending to make it look as though she was hauling a passenger train, she really meant it, but her driver knew that if they really did go at that speed, the breakdown train would probably rock and roll off the tracks around sharp bends, so he kept the speed down.

"Easy there girl, easy." he said to her calmly. However, Tornado still wanted to get a move on.

"Bother those trucks and their tricks, I sincerely hope poor Sovereign isn't hurt." Tornado prayed as she chuffed along the track, desperate to rescue the black 5 ASAP.

Poor Sovereign had derailed and crashed into a field in the middle of some open countryside. Her left front buffer had dug itself into the bone dry grass, scooping up the dirt as a result. She was resting on her side, as was her tender which had spilt its supply of coal all over the tracks. As for the trucks, well they had scattered themselves all over the field and the tracks from behind. The majority of them had emerged from the accident without any major breaks on them, the first few however were shattered and cracked in several places. Sovereign's driver and fireman were feeling her all over **(no not like that!)** to see if she was hurt.

"Never mind Sovereign." they said, "It wasn't your fault. It was those idiotic trucks and those wooden brakes that caused the accident. We always said that those brakes made of wood were never gonna do you any favours." Just then, they heard the sound of a chime whistle. Tornado puffed in onto the scene with the breakdown train and the workmen getting ready for work inside the works unit coach. Tornado pushed the breakdown train alongside Sovereign, then she did something else she's not used to, pulling the unhurt trucks out of the way.

"Oh dear, oh dear." groaned the trucks as Tornado coupled up to the first bunch.

"Serves you right, serves you right!" huffed Tornado as she pulled them away from the scene. She was hard at work puffing backwards and forwards all afternoon.

"This'll teach you a lesson, this'll teach you a lesson!" she told the trucks as she gave them a forceful biff.

"Yes it will, yes it will." answered the trucks hurtfully. With all the unhurt trucks soon out of the way, the broken trucks were left where they were as they were now deemed useless and in need of scrap. All the focus was now on getting Sovereign back onto the tracks. The workmen can be happy in the knowledge that the Fat Director had heard about the accident and that he'd closed this section of track for them so there wouldn't be any delays. They first had to get Sovereign standing upright before attempting to get her back onto the rails. They attached some chains around Sovereign and then used the crane hooks to grab hold of the chains. The hook heaved with all its might as Sovereign slowly but surely began to rise up and eventually came down back onto her wheels with a loud thump. Now for stage two, getting Sovereign and her tender back onto the tracks. The workmen attached the chains and hooks to Sovereign's tender as they were going to get that back onto the rails first. It was an easy job as the tender wasn't as heavy as Sovereign. The tender was lifted into the air and then lowered back onto the tracks front of a watching Tornado in a matter of minutes. Now though, it was time for the hardest part of the operation which was to get Sovereign herself back onto the rails. And they'd better be quick, because the sun was beginning to set behind the clouds. They hastily but carefully connected the cranes hooks to the chains which were now attached to Sovereign, coiled lovingly around her buffers. With the all clear signal given, the cranes began to take the strain. Sovereign was slowly lifted off the ground and into the air. Tornado watched nervously as the cranes raised Sovereign to an appropriate height. They then moved her over to the track Tornado was on. Just as they stopped with the black 5 now hovering over the rails, the wind was starting to pick up, and it blew ferociously against them. A frightened Sovereign closed her eyes as she began to wobble against the strong gust. However, the cranes weren't intimidated as they carefully lowered her down back onto the tracks. Sovereign breathed a collective sigh of relief. She tried to move but she couldn't, so Tornado coupled up to her tender, and pulled her gently back to the yard. The workmen and the cranes were left behind so they can clear up the mess. When Tornado and Sovereign arrived at the yard, the Fat Director was waiting anxiously for them.

"Well Tornado" he said, "I've heard all about the events of today and I'm very pleased with you, you're a really useful engine. Sovereign shall have some proper brakes and a new coat of paint, and you shall visit the preserved railway of your choice in a weeklong stay."

"Oh thank you sir!" smiled Tornado, delightfully rolling her eyes in pure excitement.

Tornado chose to join her friend Kinlet Hall and visit the Severn Valley Railway, which ran from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth over 16 miles of beautiful countryside, with stations at Bewdley, Arley, Highley and Hampton Loade en route to each end of the railway. Unsurprisingly though, Tornado was now as happy as can be, escorting passengers up and down this beautiful preserved railway alongside Kinlet Hall. They always had other engines to talk to of course, which included Tangmere's rebuilt brother no.34053 _'Sir Keith Park'_, GWR Manor Class no.7812 _'Erlestoke Manor'_ and LMS Ivatt Class 4 no.43106 _'The Flying Pig'_. Tornado was enjoying her time on the SVR immensely. We join her one sunny morning dropping off passengers at Arley station. She couldn't carry on her journey until Kinlet Hall had arrived. A few minutes later, Kinlet Hall came into view rounding the bend, blowing her whistle long and loud as she approached.

"This' the life, eh Tornado?" Kinlet Hall asked as she entered the station. Tornado smiled proudly.

**And there we go, episode 5 now done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Thomas and the Breakdown **_**Train'. Please review and I request criticism. A huge thanks again goes to **_**'tate310'**_** for giving me the idea and for letting me use his character **_**'Mr George Walkers, aka the Fat Director'**_**. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	6. You Will Learn From Mistakes

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - a couple of black 5s overrun a platform, Sovereign receives a threat and a footplate crew use a bootlace.**

Episode 6: You Will Learn From Mistakes

A week had now past since Sovereign's accident and the black 5 was now back out and about on the mainline. However, she still had to haul trucks because of the diesel oil shortage. She was beginning to get used to it and was more careful with them to make sure they didn't push her again. But all the same, all she wanted was to return to passenger duties. Fortunately, her chance came sooner than expected. One bright sunny morning, the Fat Director came to see her and her brother No.45407 _'The Lancashire Fusilier_'.

"Hello two of my black 5s." he said to them, "I'm looking to trust you two when you double head the _'Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express'_ along the Settle and Carlisle route today. We all know that black 5s like yourselves were originally built for goods duties, but you've both have proven to be successful on passenger trains too. However, you must learn from your mistakes." Lancashire Fusilier understood this. Sovereign however knew exactly what the Fat Director meant as memories and images of the accident she had last week were still fresh in her mind. Later that morning, Sovereign was reversing the coaches into Settle station with Lancashire Fusilier watching closely and carefully.

"Be careful with the coaches Sovereign." Lancashire Fusilier warned his sister, "They don't like being bumped." But Sovereign was too excited to be pulling coaches again that she wasn't really listening to her brother. She brought the coaches into the station safely. All the passengers on the platform came over to her and began admiring her shining black paint. Sovereign personally found this rather surprising, in a good way.

"I'm a really splendid engine." she thought as she suddenly let off steam, "Wheesh!" The Fat Director was watching on the platform and the steam from Sovereign concealed him, resulting in water being showered onto his nice new top hat. He took his top hat off to observe the mess made, but this resulted in his head being showered in water also. He wasn't very pleased about this, but there wasn't anything he could do now because the guard had blown his whistle just as Lancashire Fusilier had coupled up in front of his sister. Upon the sound of the whistle, Sovereign thought they'd better go.

"Go on, go on!" she puffed to her brother.

"Don't push, don't push." replied Lancashire Fusilier as they departed Settle station. The coaches were grumbling too.

Don't go so fast, don't go so fast!" they grumbled, however Sovereign didn't listen.

Both engines trundled merrily down the line without mishap. Well, that was the case until they reach Horton-in-Ribblesdale station. When their brakes were applied in an attempt to stop, they couldn't until they, along with two of the ten-coach train had overran the platform. Embarrassingly, they had to reverse so the passengers wanting to get off here could get out. However no one seemed to know about the Fat Directors top hat, so Sovereign felt happier. Later on, they were presently entering the next station, Ribblehead, where Tornado was waiting with her own passenger service. Tornado's weeklong stay at the Severn Valley Railway had come to an end and she was now back working mainline trains again. Lancashire Fusilier whistled hello to her, and she whistled back, but she then caught sight of Sovereign.

"Hello Sovereign." said Tornado, "Feeling better? That's right." After a few minutes of idling in the station, the guard of Tornado's train blew his whistle.

"Oh that's my guards whistle, I must go." said Tornado, "I don't know what the Fat Director would do if I had never been built five years ago so I can run services across the nation alongside the rest of you." And she puffed importantly away. That afternoon, Lancashire Fusilier and Sovereign were passing the field where Sovereign had had her accident. The turf was resurfaced and the cows had returned. The black 5s whistled hello to them and they just mooed in response. They continued en route to Carlisle, stopping at all the timetabled stations on their way, and they were making sure not to overrun any more platforms. A few hours later, they finally caught sight of the final stop, Carlisle station. They approached carefully and their brakes were applied at exactly the right moment. They came to a stop at the end of the platform without overrunning it. The journey was over. The black 5s rested in the station sidings before setting off for home. Lancashire Fusilier was talking to his driver and fireman. Meanwhile, Sovereign was lost in thought. She was very worried about what the Fat Director would have to say about his water-stained top hat. Two hours after arriving at Carlisle, after taking on more coal and water each, the black 5s were coupled up at the other end of the train ready to head back to Settle, with Lancashire Fusilier once again leading the way. When they heard the guard blow his whistle, they whistled back and set off en route back to Settle.

Next morning, Sovereign and Lancashire Fusilier woke up full of steam…well, Lancashire Fusilier was anyway. Sovereign was still fretting about what the Fat Director was gonna eventually say to her. She watched her brother leave their shed and off to perform his work for the day. She was just about to follow her brother when…

"And just where do you think you're going Sovereign?" Sovereign stopped instantly and looked over to her left. There stood a very angry Fat Director. Sovereign gulped and braced herself for those stern words.

"Now you listen to me Sovereign, if you can't behave, I shall take away your black coat and have you painted green!" snarled the Fat Director furiously. Sovereign didn't like the sound of that one bit, a BLACK 5, painted GREEN, that would be a terrible look on her, especially as she would no longer be known as a BLACK 5 and more likely be known as a GREEN 5, which sounds like a disgusting name for a steam locomotive. However, this telling off didn't make Sovereign upset, it made her angry. And she took out her anger on the grumbling coaches as she roughly brought them into Settle station later that morning.

"Don't talk, come on!" she called angrily to them. "Union of South Africa never has to fetch her own coaches.", she thought to herself, "And she's only painted green." To make Sovereign even more furious, this time, none of the passengers came over to admire her.

"I'll show them!" she thought as she puffed fumingly out of the station, "They think Union of South Africa, her sister Bittern and their brother Sir Nigel Gresley are the only engines who can deliver mainline trains at high speeds!" Later in the journey, Sovereign was making good time and they soon reached a long stretch of track along the countryside.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry." she puffed.

"You're going too fast, you're going too fast!" complained the coaches. Sovereign laughed and tried to go faster, but the coaches weren't going to let her.

"We're going to stop." they said, "We're going to stop." Sovereign continued to chuff merrily along, rounding a bend and approaching Helm Tunnel, until she suddenly heard the screeching sound of brakes. She eventually came to a stop and the coaches bumped heavily into her.

"What's the matter?" she asked her driver.

"The brakes are hard on, leaking the pipes most likely." he replied, "You've banged the coaches enough to make a leak in anything." He, the fireman and the guard then made their way to the coupling linking Sovereign and the first coach.

"How shall we mend it?" thought the guard.

"We'll do it with newspaper and a leather bootlace." suggested the fireman.

"Well, where's the bootlace coming from?" asked the guard.

"Ask the passengers." said the driver. Sovereign watched miserably as the crew made their way over to the passengers who had got out of the train, not to admire the countryside, but to wonder just what in the name of satans portion was going on. Just then, the guard spotted someone in the crowd. The guard noticed the laces the man was carrying for some strange reason, so he made his way over to him.

"You have a leather bootlace there I see sir." he said, "Please give them to me."

"I won't." replied the man bluntly, clearly not getting the idea.

"Then," said the guard, "I'm afraid the train will just stop where it is." The passengers complained to the man about how bad he was, they were all very angry. At last, the man couldn't take any more of the complaining and reluctantly handed his laces over to the guard, who made his way back to the coupling followed by the driver and fireman. The driver tied the pad of newspaper tightly round the hole in the brake pipe, and when they'd finished, the guard made his way back to the end of the train while the driver and fireman climbed back into Sovereign's cab, happy in the knowledge that the black 5 would now be able to pull the train. When the passengers were back inside the coaches and with a blow of her whistle, Sovereign puffed away with the coaches rattling right behind her. She was feeling very melancholy about these events. She entered Helm Tunnel fretting that the Fat Director will be angry at her once more. She also felt wiser as she would from now on take care to never bump coaches again.

**And there we go with episode 6. Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'James and the Coaches'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short.**** And on that bombshell, it's time to end , thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	7. Tornado Goes Fishing

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - Tornado crosses a bridge, a bucket gets lowered into a river and the Fat Director witnesses a startling realisation.**

Episode 7: Tornado Goes Fishing

Tornado the blue engine's very proud to be running along the mainlines of Great Britain. She thinks they're one of the best mainlines in the world, and there's no denying that if you asked anyone across the nation that question, they would instantly agree to that. One bright sunny morning, Tornado was puffing merrily along the track with her morning passenger train. Along the way, she crossed over a bridge. Below the bridge was a river. Tornado noticed that relaxing on the riverbank were a couple of fishermen. They were doing what they do best…fishing. The hooks on their rods were already soaking in the water and all they were doing now was waiting patiently for the fish to grab hold of the hooks so they can reel them in. Tornado really wanted to stop and watch them but her driver certainly wasn't going to let her.

"No!" he said sternly, "What would the Fat Director say if we were late?" Tornado sighed in defeat and carried on her journey. She really wanted to watch people fishing, it looked like lots of fun. In fact, it would probably be even more fun if she had a go at it herself. How hard can it be? All you do's throw a fishing line into the river, wait for the fish to grab hold of the hook and finally just reel the caught fish out of the water. That doesn't sound very difficult does it? Unfortunately from that point on, every time Tornado met another engine, like on this occasion when she met Union of South Africa's sister LNER A4 No.4464 _'Bittern'_, she would always receive the same response.

"I want to fish." Tornado will say. However, just like every other engine Tornado had met, Bittern would respond by saying briefly and bluntly…

"Engines don't go fishing."

"Silly stick-in-the-muds!" thought Tornado angrily, clearly now fed up with constantly receiving that same answer from her friends after saying she wanted to go fishing. She was seriously desperate and determined to experience fishing now.

One lovely afternoon, Tornado was running the same train as before. She stopped as usual for taking on water at the station by the river. However, on this day, there was a big problem. The water tower at the station was unfortunately…

"Out of order? Oh god damn it!" huffed Tornado angrily, "How am I supposed to have a nice long drink to fill up my tanks now?! I'm really thirsty you know!"

"Calm down girl." assured her driver, "We'll get some water from the river." And so, with a blow of her chime whistle, Tornado chuffed out of the station with her carriages rattling merrily behind her. Her driver and fireman were aware of the problem with the water tower beforehand, so they had managed to find a bucket and some rope before they left the station…somehow. After a few minutes of chuffing down the line, the bridge finally came into view. Tornado though was beginning to feel a steam engines version of dehydration. Her cheeks were starting to glow bright red. Her tanks were almost empty. As she puffed onto the bridge, she came to a stop when she was directly over the calm flowing river underneath. Her driver attached the rope to the handle of the bucket. He then stood on the edge of the bridge and lowered the bucket down to the water. Unfortunately though, this grey coloured bucket was the only one he and the fireman could find. It was old and had five holes placed around the bottom. So, he had to fill it up, reel the bucket back up, pass it to the fireman who was standing over Tornado's open fuel filler cap on her tender and then the fireman had to empty the buckets contents of water into Tornado's tanks, all of which had to be done as quickly as possible, several times over. This task was a big ask, especially when you consider that being a tender engine, Tornado has a really big water tank. The passengers in Tornado's carriages didn't seem to mind the unknown stoppage on the bridge because they were able to admire the views the bridge had to offer, whether it be the river, the trees, the fields or the animals nestled amongst the tall green grass. An hour had past now and the driver and fireman were starting what they hoped would be the last effort of transporting the water from the river into Tornado's tanks. The driver held the rope firmly and he gently lowered the bucket into the river. After a few seconds, he raised the bucket from the water and saw that the bucket was full. Now he had to bring the bucket to the awaiting fireman as fast as he possibly could. He raised the bucket back up to himself from the river in a matter of seconds. As some water managed to escape through the small holes, he passed the bucket onto the fireman, who then tipped the bucket over and the water thundered into Tornado's tanks. When all the water was poured out of the bucket and into the tanks, the now tired and red faced driver and fireman breathed a collective sigh of relief, the job was finally complete.

"Ok Tornado, that should be enough water to get us through the rest of the journey." said the driver.

"That's good, that's good." puffed Tornado happily as the redness on her cheeks slowly faded away. As soon as the driver and fireman hopped back into the cab, Tornado blew her chime whistle and was chuffing on her merry way once again. The passengers were pleased that the train was finally moving again, and at least they also got to enjoy themselves upon looking out of the open carriage windows and at the spectacular sights and sounds that were offered from the bridge while they were stationary. Tornado was feeling in fine working order a few minutes after the unfamiliar water stop as she chuffed happily along the line in the knowledge that the final station on this steam special was just a few more minutes away. However, just as she was rounding a bend, she suddenly started to feel a harsh and unwelcoming pain from well inside her boiler. Her driver and fireman noticed that steam was shooting out of her safety valve in an alarming way. They realised that this could only mean one thing.

"There's to much steam!" cried the driver. Poor Tornado was hurting tremendously as upon hearing this worrying news, it really didn't help matters.

"Cinders and ashes!" she groaned, "I'm going to burst, I'm going to burst!" The fireman dampened down her fire and the driver open the regulator so Tornado would be able to struggle onwards towards the last station.

"I've got such a pain, I've got such a pain." Tornado hissed as she continued on her journey. Steam was consistently shooting itself like a bullet out of her safety valve, but the driver and fireman resisted this and continued their respective duties from within the cab. At long last after much wheezing and groaning, Tornado finally saw the last station enter her vision.

"Oh thank goodness for that." she groaned painfully, "The last stop. The sooner I get there, the sooner I can receive my much needed health inspection." Continuously wheezing along the track, Tornado carefully entered the last station and stopped slowly and gracefully along the platform. The driver would then get out of Tornados cab and inform the station master about Tornado's troubles. The station master quickly phoned the signalman, who upon realising the urgency of the emergency, changed the points so that Tornado would be able to enter the siding at the end of the line, a safe distance away from the station. Following her being uncoupled from the coaches, with her cheeks flaring bright red again, Tornado cautiously made her way forwards into the available siding. With a wheesh of steam, she came to a halt just in front of the buffers. The station master had alerted the Fat Director who was now on his way to the scene. While the fireman telephoned for an engine inspector, the driver found two large notice boards with the same message in big bright red letters on them, which he hung on Tornado's front and rear buffers. The notice boards read _'Danger! Keep Away!'_. Tornado continued to cough and splutter with her boiler still aching horrendously. Eventually, after an hour, the engine inspector and the Fat Director arrived on the scene and they saw the very poorly looking Tornado.

"Cheer up Tornado." they said, "We'll soon put you right." Tornado's driver explained to the inspector and the Fat Director about what had happened. The inspector immediately got an idea of what the problem might be.

"So the feed pipe is blocked." he said, "I'll just look in the tanks." The inspector had brought a ladder with him because he thought it might be needed, and on this occasion, it was indeed going to be required so he would be able to reach the top of Tornado's tender. He leaned the ladder against Tornado's tender, climbed up, opened the fuel filler cap and peered in. After a few seconds just as he realised the surprising cause of the problem, he climbed back down again.

"Excuse me sir, please look in the tank and tell me what you see."

"Certainly inspector." replied the Fat Director. He clambered up the ladder, looked in and nearly fell off in surprise.

"Inspector…" he whispered, "Can you see…fish?" Now was the time for Tornado's O Face moment, she was absolutely gob smacked. Fish of all things, inside her tanks?!

"Gracious, goodness me, how did the fish get there driver?" asked the Fat Director.

"We must have fished them from the river with our bucket." replied Tornado's driver. The Fat Director then turned his attention to Tornado who was now feeling very frivolous, her red cheeks were now a combination of pain and embarrassment.

"Well, well, well Tornado, it seems that you and your footplate crew have indeed attempted fishing. But you must realise that fish really don't suit you. Well I'm guessing that you really do realise fish don't suit you now I mean look at the state of you! I suppose we'd better go and get some fishing rods and retrieve those fish." Tornado's fireman managed to retrieve a couple of fishing rods from a local fishing shop in town. He, the driver and the Fat Director then climbed up the ladder and onto Tornado's tender. Tornado was praying that her tender was able to take this combined weight, especially as 75% of that weight came from the Fat Director. The driver and fireman took turns at fishing in Tornado's tanks while the Fat Director looked on, giving them instructions on how to do it.

"Ok driver, the hook's now in the tank, now all you have to do's wait for the fish to grab hold of the hook and then reel them in quickly." the Fat Director instructed. Just then, the drivers fishing rod felt a tug against it, one of the fish had grabbed hold of the hook. Realising this, the driver hastily reeled the fish out of the tank. Eventually, after much time of waiting patiently, all the fish were caught. Tornado was now feeling much better now that the fish were no longer causing any bother to her boiler, let alone her tanks. Just then, the Fat Director had an idea. He noticed a wooden bench in the distance. He told his idea to the driver and fireman, who agreed.

"Now that you mention it sir, I'm feeling a little bit peckish." said the fireman. The Fat Director ordered some chips on his mobile, and when it arrived, the trio settled down on the bench for a lovely picnic supper of fish and chips. Tornado could only watch helplessly and in slight disgust. She just decided to close her eyes and relax her mind, keeping focus away from her days events. At last, after a while, the driver, fireman and the Fat Director had finished their afternoon fish and chips picnic. They wiped their mouths clean on their handkerchiefs.

"Mmm, that was good." said the Fat Director as the trio made their way back to Tornado just as she opened her eyes upon hearing them coming towards her, where her driver and fireman removed the notice boards and placed them out of the way, "Now remember this Tornado, fish will never suit any engine, so you mustn't do this again, you hear me?"

"No sir I won't." said Tornado sadly as her driver and fireman hopped into her cab and began reversing her away, "Engines don't go fishing, it's too uncomfortable."

**And there we are, episode 7's finally done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Thomas Goes Fishing'**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for watching, goodnight.**


	8. Dirty Objects

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - we discover where the Jubilees are, Sovereign biffs some trucks and there's a massive crash inside a rail yard.**

Episode 8: Dirty Objects

LMS Jubilee Class No.45699 _'Galatea'_ was loving life back out on the mainlines of Great Britain. She was originally preserved as a source of spares for her three fellow preserved sisters, _'Kolhapur'_ **(who we met in episode 1)**, no.45690 _'Leander'_ and no.45596 _'Bahamas'_, mostly notably providing a spare boiler for Leander upon being rescued from scrap back in 1980. To this day, the sisters of Galatea are all currently off the mainline, with Kolhapur still awaiting overhaul at Tyseley Locomotive Works, the overhaul of Bahamas had recently just begun over at Ingrow West Shed on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and Leander was also undergoing overhaul over in Carnforth. As for Galatea, well during the preservation era, after a shunting accident she had that saw her middle driving wheel being cut before she had actually been preserved, Galatea had to undergo a complete rebuild by order of the West Coast Railway Company in order to get her back to good working condition. And after an everlasting wait of 40-50 years, she underwent some mainline test runs back in April and passed them all without any major mishaps. Since then, she has merrily been chuffing up and down the mainline happy in the knowledge that she was back where she belongs. As she entered Carnforth station with her passenger train one sunny morning, she was in a very good mood, smiling as brightly as the shining sun. However, her BR maroon paint was beginning to wear off, and if someone were to look very closely, they'd be able to spot little lumps of black on the recently restored Jubilee. But that didn't seem to bother Galatea though as she closed her eyes and relaxed under the rays of the sunshine listening to the birds singing sweetly. She sighed happily; boy did she love life. Just then, Sovereign arrived on her own passenger service. Sovereign had been given a stern talking to from the Fat Director and had now learned to be careful with coaches, especially as she'd managed to get out of it all without being painted green and with her current black paint intact. However, the whole ordeal had put her in a bit of a grumpy mood. The moment she saw Galatea, she huffed.

"Huh! What in the name of all that's holy is that dirty object?!" she shuddered rudely. Galatea frowned, feeling very offended. At that moment, a thought came into her mind.

"Sovereign?" she asked, "Why are you painted black?"

"Ok, one, I'm a BLACK 5! I can't be painted any other colour! And two, I'm a splendid engine, ready for anything, you'll never see my paint dirty." Sovereign answered.

"Oh." replied Galatea innocently, "That's why you once needed bootlaces to be ready I suppose."

"What?! Where did you hear about that?" Sovereign asked furiously.

"From your brother Lancashire Fusilier." laughed Galatea.

"Grrgh! Just wait 'til I get my buffers on him!" shouted Sovereign as her face went bright red with a combination of embarrassment and fury. She snorted furiously away. It was still such an insult to be reminded of the time a bootlace had been used, to mend a hole in her coaches.

That afternoon, after Sovereign had calmed down and finished her morning passenger train, she was getting ready for her next journey. Unfortunately for her, that next journey was with a slow goods train . This meant that she would have to stop at every station in order to pick up and set down trucks. Sovereign shuddered in disgust as she chuffed through the countryside en route to where the trucks were waiting. She was feeling very consumed with discontent.

"Why do I have to be given the job of taking this dirty train." she huffed angrily as she arrived at Toton Yard in Nottingham and saw the trucks waiting for her. Diesel engines were scattered all over the yard, but they were all stationary as the oil shortage was still playing its part on them. Sovereign puffed past the trucks and switched to the same track as them. She then began to reverse towards them. She was so fed up, she gave them a hard bump.

"Dirty trucks from dirty sidings within dirty yards!" she scolded as she was coupled up, "Bleugh!" The guard gave the signal and Sovereign whistled out of the yard. After beginning her journey with only a few trucks, as it went on, she picked up more and more trucks at each station, 'til she had a goods train as long as a rattlesnake. During this time though, the trucks were behaving well at first, but because Sovereign had been bumping them so angrily, they were now more than determined to get their much wanted payback on her. Presently, at this point in the journey, Sovereign was now attempting to successfully climb up the Lickey Incline. Now, should heavy goods trains like this come up against something like hills, slopes or inclines they would normally have to stop either on them or at the bottom in order for the engine to have their brakes pinned down. Sovereign had had problems with trucks in the past and should've remembered this, but her mind was in deep and furious thought as she slowly reached the top.

"Wait Sovereign wait." said her driver, but Sovereign wasn't listening so she didn't wait. She was too busy thinking what she would say to Galatea when she next met the Jubilee. As they started to chuff carefully down the other side of the incline, the trucks decided to seize on the opportunity presented to them.

"Hurrah, hurrah!" they laughed as they bashed their buffers against each others and began to push Sovereign hard down the incline. The train was now rocketing down the incline and was now seemingly unstoppable.

"Argh!" cried Sovereign as the train continued to gain momentum.

"On, on, on!" yelled the laughing trucks.

"I've got to stop, I've got to stop!" groaned Sovereign as the train sped along the line dangerously. The driver applied the brakes but they were useless against the surging trucks. Sovereign tried forcing all her weight onto the trucks, but that failed miserably also. There was nothing Sovereign or her driver and fireman could do. Well all they could do was braced themselves as they were now in for what was gonna be one hell of a ride. The trucks continued to laugh loudly as they pushed the black 5 along the track. They raced through the countryside, scaring animals as they went. She then thundered under a bridge, and when Sovereign looked to her left, she saw Bescot station. She braced herself for thinking that she was going to head straight through the seemingly empty station. However, the points were not set for her to go through the station, so instead of zipping through the station, she shot across the complex of approach tracks and into the yard, where a train of 20 tanker wagons containing tar was waiting patiently from within. Sovereign blew her whistle alarmingly and closed her eyes in order to await for the inevitable and guessing hurtful impact. She smashed into the train hard enough for her to be literally lifted off the rails and come down with a crash, sending the primary truck she hit flying. Tar was sent airborne and when it came down, it splashed and splattered absolutely everywhere. Coal dust from Sovereign's train was floating all over the yard. It settled all over Sovereign along with the majority of the tar. When the dust finally cleared, Sovereign looked an absolute mess. She was covered in a combination of tar and coal dust from funnel to tender. She was more dirty than hurt. However, the first few tar wagons were either obliterated into thousands of pieces, or they were heavily dented. Other wagons were either derailed or seemingly unharmed. Poor Sovereign was left red faced…again. There was nothing she could do but wait for help to arrive. Her driver alerted the yard manager who quickly called the Fat Director. He decided to send Tornado and Galatea to help clear up the mess. The two sent engines arrived on the scene as soon as they possibly could. When they arrived with the some workmen and the breakdown cranes, they surveyed the wreckage of the scene. Tar was dripping down Sovereigns nose and it was slowly travelling down the black 5s boiler. Well, you'd hardly be able to notice because Sovereign was painted black but you'd be able to tell just by looking at her apologetic face. She did look a very sorry sight. Galatea couldn't resist herself from taking the opportunity to have a little bit of fun.

"Look here Tornado." she exclaimed, "What ever is that dirty object?"

"That's Sovereign, didn't you know?" asked Tornado.

"Well it looks like Sovereigns shape." said Galatea, "But didn't Sovereign say that she was a splendid engine who said that you'd never see her paint dirty?" Tornado laughed at the remark made by Galatea. Sovereign looked over at them miserably, pretending she hadn't heard what they just said.

"Oh well Sovereign." smiled Galatea, "Let's get you back onto the rails." Galatea and Tornado set to work clearing away the unhurt trucks. When they were removed from the scene, the duo watched as the cranes began to lift Sovereign back onto the rails. The workmen had finished attaching the hooks and chains around the black 5 and they all stood back and observed. The chains took the strain as they lifted Sovereign off the ground. When the black 5 was at a suitable height, the cranes began to manoeuvre her along so she was in line with the rails. When in position, she was slowly lowered back onto the rails. As the hooks and chains were removed, Galatea and Tornado coupled up to her, Galatea at the front, Tornado at the back. With a blow of their whistles, they set off, leaving the workmen and the breakdown cranes behind so they'd be able to clear up what was left of the wreckage.

As they trundled down the tracks, the engines made pleasant small talk.

"I'm sorry for calling you a dirty object Galatea." said Sovereign sadly.

"That's alright Sovereign." replied Galatea happily, "At least you now know to be careful with trucks as well as coaches."

"And here I was thinking black 5s were originally built for goods trains." Tornado remarked cheekily. The trio had to laugh, even though Sovereign was blushing with embarrassment as the tar and coal dust still littered her paintwork. They soon arrived at Crewe Works where Sovereign was gonna get fixed Galatea and Tornado dropped Sovereign off in a siding and they were all now side by side. Saying goodbye to Sovereign, Galatea and Tornado just were about to leave, the Fat Director arrived.

"Well done Galatea and Tornado." he said proudly. He then turned his attention to Sovereign.

"Uh oh." whispered Sovereign fretfully.

"Fancy letting your trucks run away, I'm very surprised." said the Fat Director, "You're not fit to be seen, you must be cleaned at once. Galatea shall have a new coat of paint." Galatea was delighted, but she then had a thought.

"Please sir, can Tornado have one to?" asked Galatea, "She was just as helpful in the rescue as I was."

"Oh why not." agreed the Fat Director.

"Oh thank you so much sir!" cheered Tornado delightfully, "Thanks to you to Galatea."

"You deserve it just as much as I do Tornado, now lets go and get our new coats." smiled Galatea. All poor Sovereign could do was watch miserably as her two friends puffed merrily away for their repainting. Galatea was happy that she and Sovereign were now friends and she was looking forward to get her new coat of maroon paint.

**And that's episode 8 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Dirty Objects'**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	9. Cows

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - a brother and sister find something funny, an 8F looks angry and a live piece of meat is loose on the track.**

Episode 9: Cows

Tangmere was getting old. Her bearings were worn and she clanked as she puffed along. On this day, she was taking twelve empty cattle trucks to a market in town. Now, Tangmere would normally refuse to do this sort of job, considering herself to be to ladylike to be doing this sort of thing, but because the job was forced onto her by the Fat Director, she had no choice but to do it, much to her displeasure. However, Tangmere was heading for trouble. As she was crossing Bushey Arches viaduct near Watford, she felt the trucks starting to hold back against her.

"Come on, come on!" she puffed angrily to them.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" screamed the trucks. Tangmere puffed and clanked, while the trucks rattled and screamed behind her. Later in the journey, Tangmere passed some nearby cows who were all grazing on the green grass. These particular cows weren't used to trains passing them because all the noise and smoke were proving to be highly disturbing to them. And I suppose you could say that today, they'd now had enough. As Tangmere clanked by, the cows managed to break through the old wooden fence and ran across the line. There was suddenly a loud snap as a coupling was broken by the cows, and a quarter of Tangmere's train, which includes the guard in the brake van, was left behind with the angrily mooing cows. Tangmere felt a jerk but didn't really take much notice. She had failed to realise that a quarter of her train was missing, and she thought the trucks were just playing their old tricks again.

"Bother those trucks." she thought, "Why can't they come quietly?" It wasn't 'til she reached the next station where she and her footplate crew had realised what had actually happened. The driver gasped as he looked back.

"A quarter of our trains gone missing!" he announced.

"That must've been what that jerk was." thought the fireman, "When we passed the cows, a coupling must've broke."

"God damn those cows!" cried Tangmere, "I just know those pieces of meat have something to do with this!"

That evening, the news of Tangmere's little incident had managed to reach out to all across the west coast mainline. Tangmere was spending the night at Willesden shed as she would be needed along the west coast mainline tomorrow. Willesden shed would normally be occupied by class 09 shunting diesels alongside class 172 and class 378 units, but tonight Tangmere would be joining them as it was the shed she was closest to. However, to Tangmere's surprise, she wasn't the only steam engine that was staying at Willesden shed. As she reversed into the shed, she found that also there was BR Standard Class 7 no.70000 _'Britannia'_, her brother no.70013 _'Oliver Cromwell'_ and LMS Stanier Class 8F no.48151 _'Gauge O Guild'_. Britannia and Oliver Cromwell found Tangmere's incident with the cows very funny indeed as they laughed and boasted.

"Fancy allowing cows to break Tangmere's train, eh Ollie?" laughed Britannia.

"Yeah Britt, we wouldn't dare let them do that to us, we'd show them." replied Oliver Cromwell confidently. Gauge O Guild wasn't liking what he was hearing one single bit.

"Hey back off will you?!" he ordered.

"Yeah leave me alone!" Tangmere added angrily. Britannia and Oliver Cromwell huffed and turned away indignantly.

"Don't worry Tangmere, you couldn't help it." said Gauge O Guild comfortingly, "They've never met cows. I've never came to blows with cows myself before but I know just how much trouble they can cause for us engines. I just hope we don't have to deal with them during our work tomorrow." Tangmere sighed sadly in response before dozing off to sleep. As the four engine slept that night, Tangmere was having a bad dream about, guess what, cows. She dreamt she was just travelling along the tracks light engine passing some countryside. Then suddenly, some cows broke through some old wooden fence. They then walked onto the track. Tangmere gasped and applied her brakes. However, her brakes had failed. She had to close her eyes get brace herself for being about to kill an innocent animal. But just as she was about to hit them…

"Argh!" screamed Tangmere as she shot her eyes open and took deep breaths, waking up from her nightmare. She looked around and found herself back in Willesden shed. She also saw that her scream thankfully didn't wake up the other engines, however she was feeling sorrowful as she closed her eyes once more to return to the land of dreams hoping she didn't have a dream about cows again.

Next morning, Tangmere was still in Willesden but she had come out of the shed in order to take on more coal which was being brought in by a JCB. Tangmere looked up at the sky. She noticed the clouds hovering around the sun. It was officially forecast as a cloudy day today.

"At least it isn't raining." Tangmere sighed trying to remain calm and collected. The memories of yesterday just wouldn't leave her mind, however she was no longer feeling sad, the whole ordeal had today put her in a bad mood. Just then, she heard a whistle. She looked over to the mainline and noticed Oliver Cromwell approaching with a passenger train. He whistled as he got closer.

"Peep-peep, mind the cows!" Oliver Cromwell called out to Tangmere teasingly, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!", he said to his coaches as he past Tangmere.

"Don't make such a fuss, don't make such a fuss!" grumbled the coaches in response. Oliver Cromwell just ignored them and carried on his journey along the rails. A long stretch of line lay ahead. In the distance was Bushey Arches viaduct. It seemed to Oliver Cromwell that there was something on the viaduct. His driver thought so to.

"Whoa Ollie." he said as he shut off steam to slow his engine and the train down. Oliver Cromwell continued to look ahead as he got closer to the viaduct. He really wanted to know what that thing was. Eventually, he realised what it was.

"Phwoa!" he exclaimed, "It's only a cow. Shoo! Shoo!" He puffed slowly onto the viaduct, but the cow wouldn't shoo. She had lost her calf and felt lonely. As Oliver Cromwell came to a stop just in front of the cow, he wondered how did this cow manage to make her way onto the viaduct of all places.

"Moo." the cow said sadly. Oliver Cromwells driver and fireman tried to send the cow away, but she wouldn't go. Just then, Oliver Cromwell's sister Britannia arrived on her own passenger service.

"Oh please dear sister, please can you give me a helping buffer?" Oliver Cromwell asked.

"What's this?" asked Britannia, "A cow? I'll soon settle her. Be off! Be off!" she ordered the cow.

"Moo." said the cow in response. Britannia began to back away nervously, this action taking Oliver Cromwell by surprise.

"I don't want to hurt her." Britannia explained as she continued to apprehensively reverse backwards and towards the previous station she stopped at. When she arrived and stopped on the platform, her driver told the station master about the cow and warned the signalman that the line was blocked.

"That must be Eileen." said the station master to Britannia's driver, "Her calf is here, ready to go to market. Gauge O Guild will take it along." Just as he said this, they heard a loud booming whistle. They turned, looked down the line and saw Gauge O Guild approaching them on Oliver Cromwell's line. Behind the 8F was one cattle truck containing Eileen's calf and a brake van with the guard inside. Britannia watched as Gauge O Guild passed her en route to the viaduct where Oliver Cromwell will be waiting, presumably impatiently. Meanwhile at the viaduct, Oliver Cromwell was indeed waiting impatiently as Eileen was still blocking his way. Just then, he spotted Gauge O Guild approaching on the same track as him. Thankfully, the 8F stopped just before striking the cow. The guard then left the brake van and unlocked the door to the cattle truck. The calf then walked out. The guard then walked the calf over to Eileen who was delighted to see her calf again. The guard finally began to lead them over to the cattle truck in order for Gauge O Guild to take them away. Speaking of the 8F, he and Oliver Cromwell were watching what was happening, when something stoked itself into Gauge O Guilds firebox.

"Come on Eileen, oh, I swear what he means…"

"Oh shut up!" huffed Oliver Cromwell. He obviously didn't like this song.

"Ah man." groaned Gauge O Guild, "I really like that song." Oliver Cromwell just wheeshed steam at him in order to permanently shut him up. Back with the guard and he'd now been able to escort the cows into the cattle truck. Upon shutting the trucks door, he blew his whistle and hopped back into the brake van. Gauge O Guild whistled goodbye to Oliver Cromwell and reversed away. He couldn't go forwards as he was on Oliver Cromwell's line, obviously. As he chuffed past the station, Britannia was given the all clear to go. As Britannia approached the viaduct, she saw her brother still parked where he was, trying to gather what had just happened, feeling rather embarrassed about it. Just thinking about it left Britannia red faced too.

"Not a word, keep it dark." the two siblings whispered to each other, they felt rather silly. However, that wasn't the end of the story.

That night as Oliver Cromwell arrived at Willesden shed after finishing his work, Britannia, Gauge O Guild and Tangmere were already there. Gauge O Guild had told Tangmere about the events at the viaduct and Tangmere found it very amusing. She waited for the primary suspect Oliver Cromwell to arrive at the shed before leaping at the opportunity to tease him and his sister.

"Well, well, well." she chuckled, "Two big engines afraid of a cow?" Britannia's face went red with pure embarrassment, making Gauge O Guild chuckle too.

"Afraid? Rubbish!" Oliver Cromwell retaliated as he reversed into the shed, "We didn't want the poor thing to hurt herself by running up against us. We stopped so it was not to excite her. You see what I mean, my dear Tangmere?"

"Yes Ollie." smiled Tangmere. Oliver Cromwell felt somehow that Tangmere saw the whole situation only too well.

**And that's episode 9 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Cows'**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	10. The Old Iron Sibling

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - the narrator begs a question, a driver falls ill and a black 5 chases after its sibling.**

Episode 10: The Old Iron Sibling

It was a lovely sunny morning in Great Britain, the sun was shining and…yeah blah, blah, blah everything else you get on a bright and sunny morning; seriously why's everything so repetitive nowadays? Anyway, over at Kings Cross station, Sovereign was waiting impatiently with her passenger train. She couldn't go any further on her journey until her sister no.45231 _'The Sherwood Forester'_ had arrived with her own passenger service. Sovereign had been waiting for what seemed like hours now, though it was just actually half an hour. After the thirty minutes had passed, Sherwood Forester finally came into view. She calmly puffed passed Sovereign, who was glaring furiously at her, and came to a stop at the end of the platform. Sovereign wasn't happy.

"Late again sister!" she huffed angrily. Sherwood Forester just laughed in response, leaving Sovereign seething as she puffed furiously away.

That evening as the sun was setting behind the clouds, Sovereign had finished her work for the day and she had returned to Kings Cross because she was sleeping in the loco shed for the night. As she was reversing towards the shed, she was still feeling very bad tempered.

"Sherwood Forester is impossible!" she grumbled dreadfully, "She clanks about like a lot of old iron, and she's so slow she even makes her own sister wait!" Nunney Castle and GWR 4900 Class no.5972 _'Olton Hall' (Hogwarts Castle)_ were also staying at the shed and they'd heard what Sovereign had said. As they watched the black 5 reverse and park between them, they were feeling very indignant about the whole ordeal.

"Old iron?!" exclaimed Nunney Castle, "Slow?! I'm sure your brothers Lancashire Fusilier and Alderman A E Draper will want a word with you about that. I mean, I'd never say anything like that about any of my siblings, wouldn't I Olton?"

"No you wouldn't Nunney." answered Olton Hall, "Besides Sovereign, I'm sure Sherwood Forester would have no problems beating her, seemingly not so dear sister in a race any day."

"Oh really?!" retorted Sovereign, "I shall like to see her do it!" And with that, she reversed into the shed to sleep for the night, leaving Nunney Castle and Olton Hall to stare indignantly at her.

Next morning, Sovereign was still at Kings Cross shed, but there was some bad news fast approaching. Her driver was suddenly taken ill, the poor guy could hardly stand, so he was sent for home for the day. With only her fireman as the only footplate crew member on duty, Sovereign had been relegated by the Fat Director to do shunting work for the day. Poor Sovereign was furious, shunting was way beneath her dignity. The fireman left Sovereign in order to get ready for the days work. From Kings Cross station, the station master was busily working in his office. He looked out of the window to admire the sunny day when he suddenly noticed something shouted. He'd spotted Sovereign puffing away down the line and there wasn't anybody in her cab. He quickly made a call to the nearest signal box, and the signalman hastily made a decision when he received the urgent message.

"All traffic halted." he announced as he pulled the required levers from within his signal box in order to halt the traffic further down the line. He was then joined by Sovereign's fireman and he told him what had happened.

"Alright so here's how it went down." said the signalman, "Apparently two boys were on Sovereign's footplate fiddling with the controls."

"Phew!"

"They tumbled off and legged it when Sovereign began to move." Just then the telephone rang. He answered it.

"Hello? Yes…yeah he's here…right…ok I'll tell him…goodbye." He then hung up the telephone and turned to Sovereign's fireman.

"The inspector's coming at once."

"To help us rescue Sovereign?"

"Yes he's coming to help you rescue Sovereign. However, he apparently requires a shunters pole and a coil of wire rope."

"What for?"

"Search me? But I suggest that you'd better going and collect those items as fast as you can." So that's what the fireman did, he raced into the nearest town, and purchased the requested items. He then returned to the signal box where he had to wait for the inspector to arrive. Before leaving, the signalman had told him that the inspector would be arriving onboard Sovereign's sister Sherwood Forester. Eventually, after one whole hour of waiting, He was relieved to finally witness Sherwood Forester coming into view. She parked next to the signal box. The inspector saw the fireman holding the pole and the rope and smiled.

"Good man, jump in." he said. As soon as the fireman had hoped into the cab, Sherwood Forester blew her deep toned whistle and set off after Sovereign.

"We must catch my sister, we must." she puffed, "If we don't though, then I'll be sure to visit her on the day the scrap yard cuts her up."

Meanwhile, Sovereign was laughing. She was racing along the line through some countryside with the rails humming loudly beneath her wheels. She was really enjoying her long run and was having the time of her life.

"What a lark, what a lark!" she chuckled to herself. As she rounded a bend, she suddenly found herself going faster and faster. This wasn't part of the script.

"Um, I think we should slow down driver…Um, you know, slow down so I'd decrease my chances of coming off the rails…and have a major accident…and quite possibly never be seen again…Well, aren't you gonna close my regulator or something?! Hello?!" Then, it was at this very moment, that she realised what had actually happened. "Wait a minute, if my speed's constantly increasing…and no one inside my cab's gonna have an attempt at slowing me down by not even responding to me…then that means…uh oh, HELP!" she screamed as she sailed down the line horrified.

"We're coming, we're coming dear sister!" called Sherwood Forester as she was racing after Sovereign. She sped along the track with her steam flaring and her wheels whirring. She soon found herself at the very same countryside Sovereign had passed. She then rounded the very same bend. She was panting up the line with every ounce of steam she had. Eventually, she could see Sovereign in the distance.

"I'm coming to rescue you Sovereign!" Sherwood Forester called out.

"Please hurry!" Sovereign replied terrifyingly. After much huffing and puffing, Sherwood Forester was in position alongside Sovereign.

"Steady Sherwood Forester!" called her driver. As Sherwood Forester rocked along the line, her driver, the fireman and the inspector were inside the cab getting ready to put their plan into action.

"Right, you know what you've got to do don't you?!" asked the driver.

"I'm on it!" replied the inspector as he made his way to the side of the cab. When the driver eventually managed to keep Sherwood Forester steady, the inspector stepped out of the cab and onto the side of Sherwood Forester. He slowly and carefully made his way along the black 5s side until he finally reached her front. He was holding a noose of rope tied through the crook of the shunters pole. He was going to attempt to slip it over Sovereign's front buffer. His first attempt ended in failure, as did the second. The swaying and lurching of the engines was probably the biggest stumbling block in this part of the operation. However, he remained cool, calm and collected and kept on trying. Eventually, after much effort, he finally managed to lasso the buffer.

"At last, got him!" he shouted pulling the lasso as tightly as he possibly could so he could tie the other end around Sherwood Foresters buffer. Sherwood Forester's driver gently applied her brakes and checked the engines speed. Meanwhile, the fireman managed to scramble across from one black 5 to another and took control of Sovereign, applying her brakes making both black 5s slow down to a steady pace. The whole situation was finally over. Both black 5s breathed a collective sigh of relief, they were very thankful the other was ok. Sherwood Forester smiled weakly to her sister.

"So dear sister, the sibling you so called 'old iron' has managed to catch you after all." she chuckled.

"I'm sorry sister." whispered Sovereign exhaustingly, "Thank you so much for saving me, you were splendid Sherwood Forester."

"That's quite alright Sovereign." replied Sherwood Forester.

The two sisters arrived at the next station side-by-side where the Fat Director was waiting for them.

"A fine piece of work." he said, "Sovereign, you can rest and then take your next train. As for you Sherwood Forester, I'm very proud of you. You shall go to the works and have all of your worn parts mended."

"Oh thank you sir." smiled Sherwood Forester, "It would be lovely not to clank." Sovereign now knew that her dear sister was no massive black lump of old iron, Sherwood Forester was just like every other engine across the nation, really useful.

**And that's it for my 10****th**** episode. Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Old Iron'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short.**** And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	11. The Mad Rush

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - we discover a fireman can't sing, a small bus does a big runner and a black 5 travels through a blackened tunnel.**

Episode 11: The Mad Rush

It was a rather cloudy morning in Great Britain, the sun was playing a game of hide and seek, using the clouds for its hiding place. Over at Dent station, Sherwood Forester was working the Settle-Carlisle route today, and at this very moment, she was waiting at the platform with her days passenger service. She couldn't continue her journey until Tornado had arrived so passengers from the A1s train can change into the black 5s train. However half an hour had now past, and Tornado was still nowhere to be seen. Sherwood Forester was left wondering what was keeping the young engine.

"POOP-POOP! We're late! Where on earth's Tornado? She's normally not the sort of engine to keep her friends waiting!" she wondered angrily before sighing, "Stay calm 45231, stay calm, don't turn into your dear sister Sovereign, just remain calm and collected and wait patiently." Inside her cab, her driver and fireman were discussing about the situation…well, when I say discussing…

"Oh dear, what can the matter be…" sang the fireman, "Johnny's so long at…"

"You really can't sing mate, you know that? Besides, never you mind about this 'Johnny'." laughed the driver, "Now I suggest you climb up onto the top of the cab and look for Tornado." So that's what the fireman did, he scrambled his way out of the cab and up to the top of the cab. He certainly had a beautiful countryside view to look at, but this wasn't the time for gazing about, he had an engine to look out for.

"Can you see her?" asked the driver.

"I'm afraid not." replied the fireman, "Hey look, I can see Roberto the single-decker bus travelling across the road in a daring hurry. No real need to bother with him though, likely he's on a coach tour or something." And with that, he clambered back down off the top of the cab and back inside it. Still not sure of Tornado's whereabouts, Sherwood Forester chuffed away upon hearing the guards whistle. So if Tornado was running late, then her passengers were gonna have to wait or find another way to travel to where they need to go to.

As Sherwood Forester travelled along the line, she passed over a level crossing. Just as she crossed it though there was a horn blasting sound from the road, which Sherwood Forester wasn't able to hear.

"Stop, stop, I've got Tornado's passengers!" wailed Roberto as he roared up to the gates. It was no good though as Sherwood Forester was gone.

"Bother!" groaned Roberto as he faintly heard the black 5s whistle in the distance, "Bother Tornado's fireman not coming to work today, why did I promise to help the passengers catch the train?!"

"That'll do Roberto." said his driver, "A promise is a promise and we must keep it." And with a blow of the horn, Roberto set off after Sherwood Forester, the chase was on. Roberto revved through villages and countryside in hot pursuit of the black 5, determined to keep his promise of getting Tornado's passengers onto the train.

"I'll catch Sherwood Forester or bust!" he huffed determined as he continued his pursuit. He suddenly found himself climbing a steep hill.

"Oh my gears and axles!" he groaned as he pressed on up the hill, "I'll never be the same bus again! Hooray, hooray I see her!", he cheered as he reached the top, "Oh no, Sherwood Foresters arrived at the next station…no, she has stopped at a signal, hooray, hooray!" Roberto tore down the hill, this was his best opportunity at catching the black 5.

"Well done Roberto!" shouted his passengers, "Do it!" Suddenly, the signal changed to green, Sherwood Forester blew her booming low-tone whistle and began to puff away. Roberto skidded alongside.

"Wait, wait!" he cried, but all he was in time for was to see Sherwood Forester puff away.

"I'm sorry." said Roberto sadly as the passengers got off of him.

"Never mind." they said, "After her quickly, third time lucky you know." They then turned to Roberto's driver.

"Do you think we'll catch her at the next station driver?" the passengers asked.

"There's a good chance." said Roberto's driver, "Our roads keep rather close to the line and we can go faster as Sherwood Forester has to obey her own speed limits, however we'll have to go across the countryside in order to actually get to the station. I'll just make sure." He made his way to the signal box to begin talks with the signalman. Roberto and the passengers were waiting as patiently as they could, but to no avail, they were really beginning to get very impatient. Fifteen minutes had passed before Roberto's driver finally emerged from the signal box. He approached everyone with some exciting news.

"Yes, we'll do it this time." he announced.

"Hooray!" called the passengers as they quickly got back on board Roberto. The driver also boarded and got back in his seat behind the wheel as Roberto set off, chasing after Sherwood Forester once more.

Roberto raced through more villages and countryside as fast as he would be allowed, he had to catch Sherwood Forester before the black 5 left the next station, Ribblehead. Speaking of the black 5, she was approaching Blea Moor Tunnel en route to Ribblehead. She blew her whistle long and loud as she entered the darkness. From inside the tunnel, she almost immediately discovered a problem, which the coaches were very keen to point out.

"This tunnel's too dark, this tunnel's too dark!" grumbled the coaches as Sherwood Forester snorted in front. The tunnel was so black from within, you never be able to notice Sherwood Forester inside. They came out the other side at last, into the open air, meaning that they can now carry on their journey, running smoothly towards Ribblehead station, still unaware about Roberto chasing after them. Eventually, after much puffing and chuffing, Ribblehead station finally came into view. As peacefully as she could, Sherwood Forester entered to station and came to a velvety stop right along the platform.

"POOP-POOP!" she whistled to the waiting passengers on the platform, "Get in quickly please!" As the passengers boarded the train, another sound could be heard. It came from the guard. He had blown his whistle. Sherwood Foresters driver looked back, but he refused to start the train again because he didn't see a red flag waving. Suddenly, they heard a third sound. This one sounded like a horn you'd often hear from a bus. It was Roberto, scampering across the grass along the countryside in order to reach the station. Sherwood Forester was surprised by this action, until the stationmaster told her driver and the guard about what had happened. Sherwood Forester looked over at an exhausted Roberto.

"I'm sorry about the chase Roberto." smiled Sherwood Forester, "Though I'm pretty sure the environmentalists will want a word with you about driving through the countryside leaving tyre tracks in your wake."

"I seriously hope they'll forgive me if I told them it was an emergency." breathed Roberto, "Besides, this whole ordeal was my fault as I was late at the junction. You didn't know about Tornado's passengers." They watched as Tornado's passengers got off of Roberto and made their way onto the station platform and into Sherwood Forester's waiting coaches. After a few minutes of waiting, all the passengers were onboard Sherwood Forester's train and the guard blew his whistle and waved his flag.

"POOP-POOP, goodbye Roberto, we're off." whistled Sherwood Forester.

"Three cheers for Roberto!" called the passengers from inside the coaches as Sherwood Forester puffed away en route to the next and final stop at Settle. Roberto watched the train leave the station and chuff merrily away into the distance. He now had one final job to do before he'd be able to bring this whole ordeal to a close. He had to race back the way he came and tell Tornado that her passengers made it onto the train safely…eventually. He followed the tyre tracks he left behind to get off the grass. He still believed that he'd hopefully be let off for emergency reasons if he was asked about why he created those deep brown tyre tracks across the peaceful countryside. He was soon racing along the smooth tarmac road once more en route to Carlisle where he knew that Tornado would be waiting there to hear the welcoming news. Wait, if Tornado's up at Carlisle, then how did Sherwood Forester not know, didn't anyone tell her? Anyway, Roberto raced along the roads as fast as he possibly could, being careful not to crash and making sure he obeyed law enforced speed limits. After many hours of driving, he eventually arrived safely at Carlisle. He found Tornado relaxing in one of the stations siding. He saw that the A1 was fast asleep. As much as he didn't want to wake her, he knew he had to. So, he blew his horn as loudly as he could. Tornado jumped out of her boiler, almost off the rails. The surprise was so forceful that it took Tornado a few seconds to stop her spinning eyes. When they did stop, she looked over and saw Roberto trying his best not to burst out laughing,

"Oh, it's only you Roberto." Tornado sighed with relief, "What did you do that for, I was having a nice long dream?"

"Sorry about that Tornado." replied Roberto apologetically, "But I just thought I'd tell you that your passengers did eventually make it onto Sherwood Forester's train."

"Phew, thank goodness. Thank you so much Roberto." smiled Tornado, "You're a very good friend indeed." Roberto smiled proudly, happy in the knowledge that he had been and always will be a big help towards the railways.

**And that's episode 11 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Bertie's Chase'**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	12. Hawksworth Failed

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - a tank engine complains, a merchant navy feels ill and a train gets left behind.**

Episode 12: Hawksworth Failed

GWR 9400 Class no.9466 is one of three mainline certified tank engines **(the other two being 9600 **_**'Swindon'**_** and 7752 **_**'Pannier'**_** who we met in episode 1)**. The Fat Director had made 9466 the regular shunting engine around the capital city of London, and as much as 9466 had gotten used to this job, he was now beginning to get fed up with it, especially as he was only able to watch all the other bigger engines take those trains out on long journeys instead of doing it himself. He really wanted to take his own train, whether it be passengers of freight, just like how he used to before the preservation era and even when he was paying a visit to a preserved railway. As 9466 was designed by F W Hawksworth, for this series, we shall call him _'Hawksworth'_.

One morning, Hawksworth was grumbling dreadfully as he shunted coaches into London Victoria station. LNER A4 no.60007 _'Sir Nigel Gresley'_, LMS 8P Princess Coronation Class no.46233 _'Duchess of Sutherland'_ and LMS 7P Royal Scot Class no.46115 _'Scots Guardsman'_ were watching him.

"I spend all my time nowadays shunting coaches about ready for engines like you three to take out on long journeys!" Hawksworth complained. The three bigger engines just laughed at him.

"Well that's the job you were given by the Fat Director Hawksworth." smiled Duchess of Sutherland innocently, however Hawksworth was having none of it.

"Why can't I pull passenger trains to?" he asked angrily.

"You're too impatient little one." spoke Sir Nigel Gresley wisely.

"Yeah Hawksworth, you'd be sure to leave something behind." added Scots Guardsman. Hawksworth wheeshed steam viciously.

"Too impatient you say? That's pure rubbish!" huffed Hawksworth furiously as he puffed away, "I'll show you, I'll show all of you I can still crack it!"

That evening, Hawksworth was spending the night at Stewarts Lane depot alongside Clan Line. However, there was a problem. Clan Line had fallen ill. Workmen agreed to work on her throughout the night. They worked on her firebox, her cylinders, her gears, her pipes, everywhere…but all to no avail as she failed to get better. Hawksworth was watching and he felt sorry for the merchant navy. He was thinking that old age must be catching up to the poor old girl. Next morning, Clan Line still wasn't feeling any better. And what a time to feel ill, because today she was scheduled to pull the VSOE luncheon special from London Victoria en route to Shalford, and Hawksworth would have to get her coaches ready. Hawksworth was in deep thought about the situation.

"If Clan Line's ill, the Fat Director would normally have Braunton as the substitute." he thought, "However Braunton's on other work duties today. So perhaps I should pull the luncheon special today." Hawksworth blew his whistle and set off to find the coaches. He soon found them on the fast line of London Victoria station. Hawksworth looked absolutely puzzled.

"Why are the coaches parked here on the fast line?" he thought confusingly, "Isn't that rather dangerous because there's the very high chance that other trains passing through can crash into them? Oh well, no ones crashed into them yet so I might as well shunt them." He then turned his attention to the coaches as he buffered up and began to push them. "Come along, come along!" he fussed.

"There's plenty of time, there's plenty of time!" grumbled the coaches on response. Hawksworth just ignored them as he pushed them over the points, which then changed, and he then began to reverse them into the station. He brought the coaches gently and smoothly along the platform and wanted to run around in front immediately. However, his driver refused to let him do so.

"Don't be impatient Hawksworth!" he ordered. Hurtful by those words but still keen, Hawksworth waited and waited. The passengers boarded the coaches, the guard and stationmaster walked up and down the platform, the porter banged the doors and still Clan Line didn't turn up. The longer Hawksworth was kept waiting, he was getting more and more excited. Just then, the Fat Director walked onto the platform wondering what was going on, and the guard and stationmaster told him about Clan Line being ill and normal substitute Braunton being on other working duties.

"In that case, find another engine." the Fat Director ordered.

"Hawksworth's the only engine available sir." replied the stationmaster. The Fat Director then turned to Hawksworth.

"You'll have to do it then Hawksworth, be quick now." he boomed. Hawksworth was delighted, at last he could now prove that he was still capable of working mainline passengers journeys. He was uncoupled from the back of the train and ran round it and over the points. He then began to reverse his way towards the head of the train.

"Don't be impatient." his driver reminded, "Wait until everything's ready." However, Hawksworth was too excited to listen. He gave the coaches a gentle biff as he backed onto them. What happened then, no one knows. Before the guard had the chance to blow his whistle, Hawksworth suddenly started to move forward. Perhaps they'd forgotten to couple Hawksworth to the train, or perhaps the driver pulled on the regulator by mistake. Anyhow Hawksworth started away, believing he was pulling the luncheon special. As he passed the first signal box, men waved and shouted that he had left the train behind. However, Hawksworth didn't stop because he thought the men were performing those actions for a completely different reason.

"They're waving because I'm such a splendid engine." he thought importantly as he continued on his way, "Hmm, Clan Line would normally say that it's hard to pull trains. Well, I think it's fairly easy, I don't know what that old girl thinks of sometimes. Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he puffed pretending to be just like the big engines.

"People have never seen me pulling a train out on the mainline in quite a long time, it's nice of them to wave." and he would whistle to them, "PEEP-PEEP, thank you.!" he would call out to them as they waved back to him, watching him puff merrily past. Hawksworth was feeling very proud of himself, he was pulling this special train across the capital and was having no troubles what so ever. Suddenly, as he looked ahead, he could see a signal that was set at danger, he could easily see the brightly shining red light.

"Bother!" he huffed, "I must stop and I was going so nicely to! What a nuisance signals are!" He blew an angry PEEP-PEEP on his whistle. Just then, the signalman came up to him.

"Hello Hawksworth." he said, "What're you doing here?"

"Um, isn't it obvious Mr. signalman sir? I'm filling in for Clan Line and pulling the days VSOE luncheon special. Can't you see?"

"Oh, pulling a train are you?" asked the signalman, "Then I have to ask, if you're pulling a train, where's your rolling stock?" Looking rather confused, Hawksworth looked back. He gasped after he realised that he wasn't pulling the VSOE luncheon special, he wasn't actually pulling anything at all. So that was what those men back when he was exiting London Victoria were waving and shouting about.

"Why bless me!" he cried, "If we hadn't left them behind!"

"Yes indeed you have." said the signalman, "If you ever wanted my advice, I'd suggest that right now, you go back to London Victoria as fast as you can and fetch those missing coaches of yours." Poor Hawksworth couldn't believe it, his one chance of proving he could still haul mainline passenger services and he blew it because of lack of patience. He was so sad that he came close to bursting into tears. His driver noticed this.

"Cheer up Hawksworth." said his driver comfortingly, "Lets go back quickly and try again." So Hawksworth began to reverse back towards London Victoria. He was no longer feeling proud, he was now feeling very miserable. As he puffed along the line, no one was waving at him now because no one was even about to taking glances or photos of him. Meanwhile, back at London Victoria station, all the passengers were talking at the exact same time. They were all angrily telling the Fat Director about how Hawksworth had left them behind. Eventually, they saw Hawksworth approaching, reversing back into the station, and just like last time, he gave the coaches a gentle biff. The passengers noticed how miserable Hawksworth was looking and couldn't stay mad at him for long. So instead of continuing to complain, they got back onboard the coaches. This time though, Hawksworth waited patiently for the guards whistle, even though he chose to remain completely silent. He was also coupled up to the train so he'd really be able to pull it, if he could. After a few more minutes of patient waiting, the guard blew his whistle. Hawksworth blew his own whistle in return and began to pull. The sander dropped sand onto the tracks to give Hawksworth more grip on the rails. Thanks to this, and the well taken controls of his driver, Hawksworth had no real trouble with hauling the train. He smiled delightfully as he began to pick up speed, it seems that he really could still haul steam specials across the mainline. In fast, he managed to complete the journey with no real troubles and he managed to stop at every station right on time, Clan Line would be proud.

However, there was still a problem to this whole ordeal, most of the big engines would never let Hawksworth hear the end of how this whole story began. Whether they saw the little tank engine, they would tease him by saying _'Look, there's Hawksworth who wanted to pull a train but forgot about the coaches.'_ Hawksworth had learned that patience is a virtue, but he did wish that those big engines would just shut up!

**And that's episode 12 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Thomas' Train/A Big Day For Thomas'**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	13. Delays

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - Rood Ashton Hall defends himself, Tornado's running late and Roberto the bus breaks down.**

Episode 13: Delays

The engines were finding life difficult. Milton Keynes Central station was under maintenance and repair. The engines had to be careful when passing through the station, meaning that they'd have to slow right down so they wouldn't prove to be a source of distraction for the workmen because they could have a nasty accident if they were. All this would often result in their respective trains running late, but they had to deal with it because the Fat Director didn't want to close the West Coast Mainline while the work was being done, so the maintenance and repair work took a long time. A month had passed now since the maintenance and repair began, and there was one engine already complaining about the delays, and that was Tornado. She was really beginning to lose her patience. One cloudy morning, she was collecting passengers at Birmingham New Street station, Rood Ashton Hall was also there.

"Time's time! Why should I have to keep my passengers waiting while all you other engines only cruise through what can only be described as a station? Thank goodness my service doesn't go as far as Milton Keynes Central!" Tornado complained. Rood Ashton Hall was indignant.

"Don't blame us!" he defended, "If we hurried through the station, we might cause a serious accident with the workmen. And then you'd have no passengers at all. What would you do then?"

"Run my train on time for one thing!" retorted Tornado and she hurried away before Rood Ashton Hall could answer.

Later that day, further up the line at Lichfield Trent Valley, Roberto the bus was also grumbling impatiently, as were his passengers. Roberto was scheduled to arrive at the station just after Tornado, however the passengers found that instead of going from the bus to their train, they were kept waiting until Tornado arrived. Soon Roberto was beginning to grow fed up with Tornado. He then heard a puffing sound which got louder and slower in tempo.

"Late again." Roberto remarked sighing angrily as Tornado panted wearily in. She came to a stop at the end of the platform feeling exhausted, her cheeks were bright red. Roberto drove up to her.

"We may be friends, but I thought you could go fast Tornado, wasn't that how you got your name?" he asked smirking, "You know, if we ever had a race, I'd be able to thrash you no problem what so ever." Tornado wheeshed steam furiously.

"Rubbish, it's those mainline trains that go down to Milton Keynes Central! Those engines dither about through the station, and then blame the Fat Directors workmen! It's just an excuse for laziness if you ask me!" She hissed fiercely. She then puffed away, absolutely seething.

The next morning, the same scenario as Tornado was yet again kept waiting at Birmingham New Street station. An hour had passed by the time Duchess of Sutherland arrived with her own passenger service, which had indeed gone through Milton Keynes Central.

"I'm sorry Tornado." Duchess of Sutherland puffed as she entered the station, "I was held up at the junction and Milton Keynes Central made it worse." Tornado momentarily glared at Duchess of Sutherland as the passengers switched from the Duchesses train to the A1s train.

"Well it's lucky for you that I'm what's known as a guaranteed connection." huffed Tornado grumpily and she puffed importantly away before Duchess of Sutherland could respond. As Tornado chuffed down the line, she really wanted to get a move on in order to make up some time.

"Come along, come along!" she panted to the coaches.

"We're coming along, we're coming along!" the coaches called back doing their best. Pleased upon hearing this, Tornado continued to speed hastily along the tracks. Tornado suddenly realised that she couldn't really save much time. She continued onwards, determined not to be late once again. Tamworth station was just round the bend. Now, Tamworth station has a high station which's placed on a bridge that crosses the low station. Tornado will be blazing the high line across the bridge today. Suddenly, as soon as the station came into view, Tornado spotted a man waving a red flag, which meant stop. Tornado was so surprised to see the flag that she had to apply her brakes as quickly as she could. She skidded along the rails , sending sparks flying. Eventually, she grounded to a halt and the ear bleeding screeching noise died down. Tornado breathed a collective sigh of relief as the man began to tell her why he'd stopped her.

"Roberto feels dreadful." he explained as he pointed down at Roberto who was resting miserably in the station car park and he had steam billowing out of his radiator, "I can't repair him, I mean, I'm only his driver. It's lucky you're also running late Tornado, could you take our passengers please? They'll never get home otherwise."

"Of course I can." replied Tornado smiling. She was no longer feeling angry and was now feeling sorry for Roberto, "I'll send help at the next station.", she promised as she watched the passengers leave the very sorry looking broken down bus and enter the coaches. When all the passengers were onboard all of the coaches, the guard blew his whistle. Tornado happily whistled back in return and puffed merrily away feeling much more cheerful, and thanks to her, all the passengers made it home safely.

After a few days, Roberto was finally repaired and he was given the all clear to be sent back to work. Upon his return to work, he drove up to Lichfield Trent Valley station where Tornado was waiting for her passengers to board her coaches. She was pleased to see her road-travelling friend.

"Welcome back Roberto." she said happily.

"It feels good to be back." replied Roberto, "And I'm sorry for teasing you about being late."

"That's quite alright Roberto." smiled Tornado, "I was glad I was able to help. It made me realise that there're times that when you're running late, it isn't always a bad thing." She briefly spun her eyes merrily. And so, with one last cheerful greeting, the two friends returned to their working duties. Roberto blew his horn goodbye, exited the car park and ventured out onto the main road, while Tornado, upon being the all clear to go from the guard, blew her whistle and puffed merrily out of the station with her coaches rattling happily behind her.

**And that's episode 13 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Better Late Than Never'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	14. A Whistling Tornado

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - two engines have a whistle battle, Mayflower gets a unwanted surprise and it's Tornado to the rescue.**

Episode 14: A Whistling Tornado

Railfest fever was in the air today! One lovely sunny summers day in York, engines, big and small, gather round the National Railway Museum and are put on display for the excited public. And this years Railway Festival was very exciting for everyone because of the engines that'd be in attendance. The list of engines included Tornado, Sir Nigel Gresley, SR N15 King Arthur Class no.(30)777 _'Sir Lamiel'_, SR V Schools Class no.925 _'Cheltenham'_, LMS Princess Coronation Class no.(4)6229 _'Duchess of Hamilton'_, GWR 3700 Class no.3440 _'City of Truro'_ and finally the two most famous locos in the nation, LNER Class A3 no.4472 _'Flying Scotsman'_ and the world famous sister to Sir Nigel Gresley, no.4468 _'Mallard'_, the current holder of the land speed record for steam locomotives, achieving a top speed of 126mph while on a journey along the East Coast Mainline on the 3rd July 1938. The atmosphere was buzzing with pure excitement as the crowds began to gather around the engines. Some enthusiasts were allowed into the engines cabs. One of them pulled a chain inside Tornado's cab which sounded her chime whistle momentarily. Tornado was parked between Sir Nigel Gresley and Sir Lamiel, the A4 on her left and the King Arthur on her right, and when she heard the whistle of Sir Nigel Gresley being blown by enthusiasts inside his cab, it gave her an idea.

"Hey Sir Nigel, I bet that I can beat you in a whistle match." she challenged. Sir Nigel Gresley glared at the young engine.

"Are you challenging me to a whistle match?" he asked, "You seem to be forgetting young Tornado, that A4 pacific locos like myself and Mallard over there always have the best sounding whistles."

"Oh really?" smirked Tornado, "So do you accept my challenge?"

"You're on!" replied Sir Nigel Gresley determined, "And you can be the referee Sir Lamiel."

"Alright then you two." agreed Sir Lamiel, "I'll have the final say on who wins." Fortunately for them, the enthusiasts inside their cabs had agreed to the same idea. So the engines just had to wait for their proud whistles to be heard. While waiting, the two proud engines stared at each other, narrowing their eyes making the scene look like a Mexican stand off. Eventually, the chime whistle of Tornado was sounded first, with Sir Nigel Gresley shortly following with his whistle sound. The whistling went back and forth in battle, and it was also getting louder and louder, some passing enthusiasts had to cover their ears as they were being blasted by the sound of whistles. The other engines were left wondering what on earth was going on. The long lasting whistle battle was finally decided by one move, because Sir Nigel Gresley had forgotten that Tornado has not one, but two whistles, and when she sounded her other whistle, the battle was over as Sir Lamiel announced the winner.

"And ladies the gentlemen, the winner of this whistle match, is Tornado!"

"Yes, in your face SNG!" boasted Tornado proudly, blowing a raspberry at him afterwards. However, the A4 wasn't pleased with the result. He looked over angrily to Sir Lamiel.

"You can't announce Tornado as the winner just because she has two whistled!" he argued.

"Sorry mate, but I've made my decision. Tornado can make better sounds than you." replied Sir Lamiel calmly. However, the whistle battle had the other engines complaining. City of Truro was first to speak up about it.

"What was all that about?" he asked.

"You've sent eardrums bursting thanks to that!" huffed Duchess of Hamilton.

"My ears would be bleeding if I had any!" groaned Cheltenham wheeshing steam furiously as she spoke. Flying Scotsman and Mallard were also not impressed by the whistle battle. Flying Scotsman spoke first.

"Do you to mind! Mallard and I are trying to discuss our fame!" he barked madly.

"I wasn't expecting this sort of activity from you Sir Nigel." snorted Mallard.

"I'm really sorry dear sister." frowned Sir Nigel Gresley. Tornado however smirked smugly. She was proud of her whistles and she wanted all the other engines to know about it.

The next day, Tornado was puffing merrily down the line on her way to work. Today, she was to take the Cathedrals Express. While en route to where the coaches were waiting, she practised blowing her chime whistle at louder tempos. With every blow, the chime whistle sounded louder and louder. Just then, she came across LNER Thompson B1 Class no.61306 _'Mayflower'_ taking on water in a siding. Tornado decided to try her new sounding chime whistle on her. Tornado took a big puff, and…blew! The sudden noise really startled Mayflower as it sent her eyes spinning and she was rattling from side to side sending the hose from the water tower off of her filler cap and splashing the water all over the ground. After a few seconds, Mayflower had finally stopped rattling about and her eyes had stopped spinning, however the whole ordeal hadn't pleased her and she glared hard at Tornado.

"What was the point of that Tornado, it wasn't funny?!" Mayflower hissed sharply. Tornado however failed to notice as she puffed happily away. Later that day, Tornado was now hauling the Cathedrals Express. She was puffing happily down the tracks, running alongside a road where she saw Roberto the bus driving down it, heading in the same direction as her. Tornado decided to use her whistle on Roberto, so she took a really big puff, and…blew! Roberto was so surprised that he constantly veered from left to right before eventually steering himself off of the road and crashing and splashing into a ditch.

"Why did you do that Tornado?!" he called out to her angrily. Tornado didn't hear him though and continued on her journey. Later that afternoon, Tornado had stopped at Dawlish Warren station to collect passengers. LNER Class K4 no.61994 _'The Great Marquess'_ was on the other platform. He had heard about what had happened to Mayflower and Roberto and he seriously wanted to talk to Tornado about it.

"Tornado, I've heard about what happened with you and your whistle earlier today." he said to her sternly, "And I demand that you stop it. If you carry on, there's the very high chance that you'll cause a nasty accident. Do you understand youngster?"

"I understand Great Marquess, and I promise that I'll stop." Tornado sighed. That evening, Tornado had just finished the Cathedrals Express and was on her way back to her shed for the night. She had kept her promise of not sounding her whistle loudly for fun, but she really wished she could give it a good blow one more time. She was travelling through some countryside and there was no one and no engines about, meaning this was her best chance. She took one enormous puff, and…blew! Tornado was pleased, relieved that nothing had happened. However, she was wrong. The echo of her whistle had made its way down the line and it'd briefly shook the ground slightly. It suddenly cause a tree branch to came loose of its tree and into a fall. Just as Tornado was puffing past, the branch came down and crashed heavily onto her boiler, denting it.

"Ouch, that hurts!" groaned Tornado as she came to a stop, wheeshing steam weakly. Her boiler had a big dent along the left side. Her footplate crew stepped out of her cab and surveyed the not so severe damage.

"It's looks like it's off to the works for you Tornado." said her driver.

"I'll go and get help." said the fireman as he ran off in search of help. The driver stayed with Tornado, keeping her company. One full hour had passed by the time Mayflower had arrived, and unfortunately for Tornado, the Fat Director was inside the B1s cab. He was very angry.

"Whistles are for safety Tornado, not for playing games!" he boomed sternly, "Only use your whistle when the time is right!"

"Yes sir, sorry sir." replied Tornado, feeling terrible.

Despite her dented boiler, Tornado was still managing to puff and chuff. As the sun began to set, she was slowly and miserably making her way towards the nearest works in order to get her boiler fixed. She remained completely quiet as she puffed along, she didn't blow her whistle once, she didn't even speak a single word, all someone could hear from her was the puff and chuff she made as she went along. She was at this point making her way through a tunnel. Suddenly, she spotted something. As she exited the tunnel, she applied her brakes and stopped right in front of a landslide that had littered the tracks with dirt and stones. To make matters worse, she then heard a puff and chuff of another engine and it was quickly getting louder. It was The Great Marquess pulling his final train of the day and he was fast approaching the landslide. If Tornado didn't so something, The Great Marquess would have a seemingly very nasty accident.

"I must warn him, fast!" thought Tornado. So, determined, and despite her dented boiler, Tornado took the biggest puff she had ever puffed, and blew her chime whistle as loudly as she possibly could manage. The Great Marquess heard Tornados whistle.

"Something must be wrong." he thought, and he was right. As he rounded the bend, he saw the landslide covering the tracks. He slammed on his brakes and skidded along the rails, showering sparks from his wheels. Eventually, despite the heavy coaches pushing him further on slightly, he managed to come to a stop, just in front of the landslide. He surveyed the scene, surprised.

"Bust my buffers!" he gasped, "Thanks very much for the warning Tornado." Tornado smiled happily, she had managed to use her whistle for a good thing this time. Oddly enough, the Fat Director was in The Great Marquess' train and he saw everything. He leaned out of his coach window and spoke grandly to Tornado.

"Tornado, that was a very brave move you did there." he boomed, "If it wasn't for your whistling, The Great Marquess would've had a rather nasty accident. You now know to use your whistle when it's needed. You're a really useful engine, and a safe one at that."

"Well done Tornado and thanks again." congratulated The Great Marquess. Tornado smiled proudly.

While getting her boiler fixed at the works, Tornado was thinking back to what she'd been up to recently. She now knew only to blow her whistle when it was necessary, and she knew that when she made her comeback in a few days, everyone would be pleased to see her again.

**And that's episode 14 done! Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	15. Fish

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - yet another Thomas reference's made, Tornado remembers a past experience and we're introduced to a fourth black 5.**

Episode 15: Fish

On starry nights when the moon's full and the air's still, you can hear the sounds of faraway ships and distant laughter. They echo over the hills and through the valleys, down the calm canals and the sleepy inlets. Every engine knows that these are the sounds that say the harbour's hard at work at the big station by the sea. One night, a special load of fish was ordered. The Fat Director decided that extra trucks would've to be added to the train that the men call _'The Flying Kipper'_. Unfortunately though, the only vans available were old ones. They'd not been used for quite a long time, in fact they still had graffiti marks on them. LMS Stanier Black 5 no.45305 _'Alderman A E Draper'_ was waiting impatiently by the quayside as Hawksworth shunted the trucks into position. Just as he did so, Tornado arrived.

"Hello there little Hawksworth. Say, what are you doing, going fishing? Well if you are going fishing, I'd take care if I were you." said Tornado.

"And why would that be Tornado?" asked Hawksworth huffily.

"Well, if there's one thing I have to tell you, it'll be this." began Tornado remembering her own experience, "If fish get into an engines boiler, they always cause trouble. Oh, and there's another thing, and it's that fish can be awfully smelly, and I know what I'm talking about. Goodnight and best of luck with helping the train up the Lickey Incline." And with that, Tornado blew her whistle and puffed away. Hawksworth watched Tornado leave the harbour and decided that it'd be best to leave now so he can get ready to help the train over the incline. So he puffed away if a different direction to Tornado but in the same direction the train would be heading. Meanwhile, Alderman A E Draper was grunting dreadfully. His driver noticed this.

"It looks like you're just gonna have to put up with it old boy." he said, "At least the extra load will mean you can have another engine help us up the Lickey Incline." He then climbed into Alderman A E Drapers cab and he and the fireman got ready to leave. As the fireman began shovelling the coal into the firebox, the driver opened the regulator. With a blow of his whistle, Alderman A E Draper chuffed out of the harbour pulling the Flying Kipper. However, he was continuously grumbling.

"Why does it have to be me hauling this smelly train tonight?" he asked himself, "Why can't it be my brother Lancashire Fusilier, or maybe one of my sisters, Sovereign or Sherwood Forester? Or what about my other brother no.44767 _'George Stephenson'_? Okay, he doesn't have a mainline certificate at the moment and yes he's also undergoing overhaul at the moment, but still! Believe me, he'd love this sort of work!" He sighed heavily and decided to just get on with the job.

Meanwhile, Hawksworth was waiting at the bottom of the Lickey Incline. He was getting ready to help Alderman A E Draper get the Flying Kipper up the incline by pushing from behind. His footplate crew were checking his lamp and smoke box to see of he had any problems. Luckily he didn't, so he was in good working order and ready to help push the heavy train over the incline. Speaking of Alderman A E Draper, well he was making exceptional progress. As he past quiet and darkened countryside and stations, he had finally calmed down and was now finding the journey rather peaceful. The sound of his puff and chuff and also the sound of his whistle all echoed through the hills as his headlamp shone brightly against the night, enabling him to see where he was going. Eventually, his bright headlamp spotted the Lickey Incline in the distance and began lighting it up as he approached. As he got closer, he started to slow down and with a wheesh of steam, he came to a stop right next to a waiting Hawksworth.

"Hello Hawksworth, you ready to help me get this heavy Flying Kipper up and over this steep incline?" asked Alderman A E Draper.

"Oh I'm ready alright buddy." replied Hawksworth determined, "Lets go and do this!" He then started to puff backwards and went over a set of points and was soon behind the train. He then gently buffered up to the train. He wasn't coupled on. Alderman A E Draper would then be able to run on without stopping when they reached the top of the incline.

"Alright mate, I'm ready!" Hawksworth whistled, "Now lets get going!" Alderman A E Draper smiled at this. He blew his whistle long and loud and began to pull, while Hawksworth began to push from the back.

They were soon beginning to make their way up the incline, however they were being made to work really hard in order to keep on going up its steep radiant.

"Push hard, push hard." puffed Alderman A E Draper as he pulled from the front.

"We're doing it, we're doing it." replied Hawksworth as he continued to push from the back. Unfortunately, this Flying Kipper was indeed really heavy, therefore Alderman A E Draper found that he was pulling the train harder than he would've been expecting. Meanwhile at the back, Hawksworth was continuing to push. He was determined to get this train over the incline. He was wheeshing steam as he pushed. Suddenly, the bright red tail lamp dropped off the back of the last truck and landed on the side of the rails. Hawksworth couldn't see through all the steam that was floating effortlessly in front of his eyesight. He could then feel the weight on his buffers slacking and then Hawksworth noticed something else.

"There's no sign of a tail lamp." he puffed worryingly. He whistled, however there wasn't any reply. Meanwhile, up the front, Alderman A E Draper had also noticed something not very welcoming.

"My train's getting heavier." he thought to himself, "I'm slowing down." Then there was trouble. Hawksworth was puffing too fast and Alderman A E Draper with the Flying Kipper wasn't travelling up the incline fast enough. Hawksworth was fast approaching the train and he'd completely failed to realise…until it was too late. There was a loud CRASH as Hawksworth smashed into the last truck, spilling its load of fish everywhere. At the head of the train, Alderman A E Draper heard the crash, se he applied his brakes, stopped the train immediately and looked back.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright Hawksworth?" Alderman A E Draper asked.

"Oh don't you worry about me, I'm fine." replied Hawksworth, "But what happened to the tail lamp? I couldn't see it anywhere! But all the same, look what has happened now! Looks like we're gonna have to wait for help." he sighed. No one was hurt and Hawksworth thankfully wasn't severely damaged, however wood from the shattered truck was scattered everywhere, as were wooden crates containing the fish, and the smell that was generating from them hung in the air.

The aforementioned help didn't arrive until the very next morning. Tornado, who found this tale rather amusing, brought the workmen and the breakdown cranes. The workmen had found the broken tail lamp at the bottom of the incline. Tornado had also brought the Fat Director, who walked up to Hawksworth, who was now clear from the broken wood, and spoke kindly to him.

"Alright there Hawksworth?" he asked.

"Don't worry sir, I'm okay." replied Hawksworth sadly.

"The accident wasn't your fault, we should've checked that this tail lamp was fixed on properly. But don't worry though, we'll soon have you in working order again."

"Thanks a lot sir." Hawksworth answered relieved but still feeling rather miserable, "You told me to be careful about fish didn't you Tornado?", he asked.

"Indeed I did little Hawksworth." replied Tornado trying not to laugh, "Now look what its got yourself into."

"Well they certainly got me in a right pickle, didn't they?" That was the cue for Tornado to no longer hold it in, so she was now bursting out with laughter. Hawksworth sighed heavily, just like when he left a passenger train behind in London Victoria, he was never gonna hear the end of this.

**And that's episode 15 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Fish'**_** and yes, I decided to use the Flying Kipper name because I couldn't think of anything else. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	16. A Balloon for Bittern

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - we discover one of Tornado's favourite activities, a big blue floating object invades the country and Pannier shunts into his own brother.**

Episode 16: A Balloon for Bittern

It was summer holiday time in Great Britain. Holiday makers come from far and wide to enjoy the proud beauty of the country. It's one of the busiest times of the year for the Fat Directors engines. One lovely sunny morning, Mayflower was excited. The Fat Director had asked her to pick up a special delivery and take to Manchester Airport. The special delivery was covered in tarpaulin, however Mayflower already knew what it was because the Fat Director had told her beforehand. When the special delivery was onboard Mayflowers flatbed truck, she was just about to leave when Tornado puffed merrily in. She was excited when she saw the special delivery resting aboard Mayflowers flatbed truck.

"What's that special delivery you've got there Mayflower?" she tooted.

"This special delivery's a balloon Tornado." replied Mayflower.

"Could this special balloon be a party balloon perhaps?" asked Tornado spinning her eyes very excitedly; she really loved parties.

"No it isn't a party balloon Tornado you silly young engine." smiled Mayflower as she did her best not to laugh at one of Tornado's somewhat childish antics, "This' a very special balloon." Tornado watched disappointingly as Mayflower blew her whistle and puffed happily away. As Mayflower chuffed merrily along the line, she was feeling very excited about this new balloon, and she couldn't wait to see it when it's blown up. Soon, she arrived at Manchester Airport. The waiting workmen untied the balloon from Mayflower's flatbed truck and brought it onto the airport runway, there weren't any planes scheduled for an hour so they had plenty of time to get the balloon working. They brought out a massive pump and attached it to the balloon. They soon started work on pumping hot air into the balloon, and it was getting bigger and bigger, which was making Mayflower more and more excited. Soon, the workmen had finished pumping the hot air into the balloon and it stood proud and tall in its beautiful shade of blue, making it look like it was trying to blend in with the sky. Just then, Bittern arrived on a passenger service. When she noticed the balloon, the LNER A4 had to ask…

"What on earth is that Mayflower?"

"It's a hot air balloon Bittern." replied Mayflower, "It'll take holiday makers on rides around the country." Bittern wasn't very happy upon hearing this.

"Taking holiday makers on rides around the country is our job!" she wheeshed jealously. Suddenly, as if by magic, the hot air balloon began to rise silently into the sky. Bittern still wasn't impressed.

"What if the hot air balloon takes our passengers away?" she chuffed as she puffed out of the station, "What'll happen to us then?" As the hot air balloon was now seemingly floating along, a watching Mayflower was feeling rather worried. Taking in Bitterns words, she was no longer feeling excited about the hot air balloon.

The hot air balloon could now be seen by everyone across the country, whether it was floating over countryside, villages, cities, towns or stations, everyone would look up into the sky and see it hovering along the sky. In the yards, Pannier was gazing at the balloon for so long, he ended up running into the back of his own brother Swindon, the two tank engines coming to blows with a small bump. Brother and sister locos Britannia and Oliver Cromwell were also gazing up at the balloon.

"Why, it's a floating basket with folk in it." said Britannia.

"I wonder what they'll dream up next?" thought Oliver Cromwell as the balloon slowly but surely hovered over him and his sister. Meanwhile, Mayflower and Bittern were waiting at a level crossing for Roberto the bus to cross the tracks. Both engines were currently on passenger runs and here they were talking worryingly about the hot air balloon.

"If it does take our passengers away, then there won't be any use for us engines." chuffed Mayflower.

"Passengers should travel on trains!" huffed Bittern angrily, "Not in what's basically silly floating baskets! We engines are much more interesting and way better looking!" Suddenly, Mayflower spotted something drifting towards them from the sky. The object was big, round and blue. Mayflower gasped, knowing what was gonna happen next if Bittern didn't get out of the way.

"What is it Mayflower?" asked Bittern. Before Mayflower could answer, they heard something else.

"We're out of hot air!" shouted a voice from above. Bittern looked up and noticed the hot air balloon coming straight towards her.

"Ahhhh!" she cried, "What's happening?!" Crash, bang, wallop went the balloon as the basket crashed down right in front of Bittern while the balloon itself enshrouded her from top to bottom and buffer to buffer. If the balloon was trying to blend in with the sky, now it seemed it was trying to blend in on Bittern because they had matching colours of blue. It was probably failing miserably though because you'd never be able to see Bitterns face anymore. Thankfully, the people in the balloons basket emerged unharmed, however because Bittern was so scared, she let out a huge burst of steam. Mayflower watched as the wheeshing steam from Bittern was suddenly starting to blow the balloon up again. Mayflower looked very confused, noticing that the balloon was getting bigger and bigger, how was it doing that? Must have been from the hot air provided by a very frightened Bittern's steam. Soon the balloon was fully blown back up again, the hot air from Bittern's steam provided what was needed to make it rise from the dead as it were. The balloon then began starting to rise into the sky once more. It disappeared from the engines sight in a matter of seconds.

"Well done Bittern." congratulated her driver as he watched the balloon continuously rising higher and higher, "Your hot air certainly did the trick there." That may've been the case, but it certainly wasn't what the engines wanted to witness.

"Oh no Bittern!" cried Mayflower angrily, "You saved the hot air balloon you upside-down bathtub on wheels!"

"Oh that's just charming Mayflower, thanks a lot!" Bittern huffed bitterly before groaning, "Besides, I didn't mean to. Now that damn balloon's sure to take our passengers away."

The balloon went back to what is was calmly doing beforehand, carrying holiday makers around the country so they can see the sights and sounds from above the land. Bittern however was still failing to realise this. From her previous encounter with the balloon, wherever she went she could see the balloon floating merrily up in the air with holiday makers. She thought that she should be taking those holiday makers.

"Seriously, why would holiday makers want to go all the way up there when they can enjoy a much more comfortable and pleasant ride down here. Rails are better than hot air any day!" she huffed furiously as she chuffed along the line with her coaches rattling cheerily behind her. She soon arrived back at Manchester Airport station. The balloon wasn't there, but lots of waiting passengers were, and so was the Fat Director.

"Well done Bittern, right on time." he said, however Bittern still wasn't happy.

"But now the passengers will want a ride in the hot air balloon." she groaned sadly. The Fat Director had to laugh.

"You're absolutely right there Bittern." he smiled, "However those passengers are going to need a ride home…onboard a train." Bittern immediately cheered up, she was so delighted that she began spinning her eyes ecstatically.

The Fat Director was right. All the engines were busier than ever, taking holiday makers to and from Manchester Airport station. Bittern had instantly regretted the harsh words she'd said about the hot air balloon. Whenever she sees the blue balloon she would whistle and toot and the holiday makers riding in the basket would wave back at her, calling hello. And sometimes, when Bittern's fast asleep in her shed at night, she tends to dream that she can fly too, not along the rails but up in the air, just like the blue hot air balloon.

**And that's episode 16 done! Hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'James and the Red Balloon'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	17. A Tale of the Earl

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - we meet a new tank engine character, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe gets all bricked up and another new character breaks down and gets laughed at.**

Episode 17: A Tale of the Earl

Once, an engine attached to a train, was afraid of a few drops of rain. He went into a tunnel and squeaked though his funnel, and wouldn't come out again. The engine in question was Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. His driver and fireman argued with him, however he refused to move.

"The rain will spoil my lovely dark green paint and brass fittings." he complained. He then heard a whistling sound. It came from the guard. He'd ran up to the front of the train and blew his whistle angrily at Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 'til he'd run out of breath. And he also waved his green flag 'til his arms ached, but all to no avail, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe just remained in the tunnel and also blew steam at him.

"I'm not going to spoil my lovely dark green paint and brass fittings for you!" he huffed angrily. By now, the passengers had left the coaches and also walked to the front of the train wondering what on earth was going on, they were all very angry. Just then, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe spotted LNER Thompson/Peppercorn K1 no.62005 _'Lord of the Isles' _approaching him on the opposite tracks that entered the other tunnel. He stopped before entering the other tunnel because he had to drop off a certain passenger…the Fat Director. He had heard about Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and he had decided to sort this situation out up close and personal with the engine. As Lord of the Isles left, the Fat Director walked angrily up to Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

"Now listen here boy, we're gonna pull you out of there!" he boomed angrily. All he received in response, a wheesh of steam that concealed him. Now he'd had enough. He ordered the guard to fetch some rope from the brake coach. When he brought the rope, he attached it top Earl of Mount Edgcumbes front coupling. All the passengers then told hold of the rope and were ordered to pull as hard as they could. Everyone pulled except the Fat Director, because…

"Ahem." he said, "My doctor has forbidden me to pull." All the passengers pulled and pulled with all their might, however Earl of Mount Edgcumbe remained in the tunnel. Realising their failure, the passengers ran through the tunnel and to the other end of the train, well except the Fat Director who walked through the tunnel. The passengers placed their hands against the end of the brake coach and were ordered to push. And, again, the Fat Director refused to participate.

"Ahem, my doctor has forbidden me to push." he said. The passengers pushed and pushed and pushed, however Earl of Mount Edgcumbe still remained in the tunnel. Everyone then again ran through the tunnel and back the front of the train to do some more complaining. The guard meanwhile stayed at the back, waiting for an engine to arrive so they can help. After an hour, help did indeed arrive in the form of GWR 4575 Prairie Tank no.5521, painted in London Transport livery and numbered L150, who we shall call _'Prairie'_. The guard waved his red flag and stopped her. Meanwhile, everyone was arguing with Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

"Look, it has stopped raining!" they said.

"Yes, but it'll begin again soon." replied Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, "And what would become of my dark green paint and brass fittings then." At the back of the train, the guard had heard this and decided to let Prairie go for it. Prairie buffered up to the back of the train and pushed and puffed and pushed as hard as ever she could. However, it all went to no avail, and once again Earl of Mount Edgcumbe remained in the tunnel, especially as he had his brakes applied, so Prairie was never gonna be able to push him anyway. Upon Prairies failure, she went home to rest her aching wheels, while the Fat Director had finally given up and made what would be his final decision of the matter.

"We shall take away your rails." he said calmly but furiously, "And leave you here for always and always and always." Earl of Mount Edgcumbe didn't really look that bothered at first, it would take the Fat Director ages to clear away the rails. However, he'd completely forgotten about the hardworking pace of the Fat Directors workmen. When they arrived, they quickly took up the old rails and began building a wall in front of Earl of Mount Edgcumbe so he couldn't get out of the tunnel anymore. His driver and the passengers had abandoned the train and so had the fireman who'd put out his engines fire. The workmen had finished the wall in a matter of minutes and then they along with the Fat Director just left without saying a single word. Poor Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was all bricked up in the tunnel. All he could do was watch as other trains rushing through the other tunnel. He was feeling very sorry and depressed because he thought no one would ever see his lovely dark green paint and brass fittings again. As time went on, loads of different trains and engines would occasionally pass by. Like on this occasion when Duchess of Sutherland passed, she whistled and said "PEEP-PEEP hello!" And then later in the day, Scots Guardsman puffed past whistling and saying "POOP-POOP-POOP serves you right!" Poor Earl of Mount Edgcumbe had no steam to answer as his fire had now completely died. Soot and dirt from the tunnel had spoilt his lovely dark green paint and brass fittings anyway. He wondered if her would ever be allowed to pull trains again. But it's probably fair to say that he thoroughly deserved his punishment.

The next day, Lord of the Isles was given the opportunity to pull the days Cathedrals Express. He was feeling very proud because he'd only returned to work a few days ago. The Cathedrals Express was full of important people today, which included the Fat Director. Lord of the Isles was really wanting to see how fast he can go.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he called to the coaches.

"Trickety trock, trickety trock, trickety trock." replied the coaches. As Lord of the Isles trundled along, he'd see the tunnel in a minute, where Earl of Mount Edgcumbe stood bricked up and lonely. He was already regretting about what'd got him into this mess.

"Oh dear." he thought miserably, "Why did I worry about rain spoiling my lovely coat of paint. Will the Fat Director ever forgive me and let me out again?"

"I'm going to poop-poop at Earl." said Lord of the Isles as he approached. He was almost there, when…There was suddenly a loud wheesh of steam shooting from a pipe inside the cab. And there was Lord of the Isles going slower and slower, from within a cloud of steam. His driver stopped the train just in front of the tunnel the Earl wasn't bricked up in.

"What has happened to me?" asked Lord of the Isles, "I feel so weak!"

"It looks like you've burst your safety valve." announced his driver, "You can't pull the train anymore."

"Oh dear." groaned Lord of the Isles, "We're going so nicely too. And what a time to receive this sort of thing, I mean, I've only been back on the mainline for a few days for goodness sake! Oh and look, there's Earl laughing at me." He was right, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was indeed laughing at the situation. The Fat Director exited the train, walked up to Lord of the Isles and spoke to him feeling very fed up.

"Huh!" he huffed, "I never liked these unreliable engines, always going wrong. Send for another engine at once." Upon hearing these words, Lord of the Isles did feel hurt, in more ways than one. While the guard went to find another engine, Lord of the Isles was uncoupled from the train. He still managed to produce enough puff in order for him to slink onto the siding out of the way. Unfortunately though, that siding stopped right in front of a bricked up Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, who was still laughing. There was more bad news too. The only engine the guard was able to find was Prairie, and she wasn't happy.

"If I can't move yesterdays train, what're the chances of me moving this one?!",she asked grumpily.

"Yesterdays train had a very silly engine at the front who had his brakes applied." said her driver calmly, This train doesn't have any engine at the front, it'll just be down to you and the coaches, which I must say may very well be packed to the rafters. But all the same , you're still a strong tank engine, I reckon you can get this train moving." Upon hearing these words, Prairie sighed.

"Alright fine, lets go." she said before setting off to the rescue. It was quite a drive before Prairie finally arrived on the scene, however when Lord of the Isles saw the little tank engine, it was his turn to not be happy about the situation.

"Huh!" he huffed, "That's no use, Prairie can't push the train!" And do you know what…he was right. Prairie puffed and pushed and pushed and puffed, however she couldn't move the heavy coaches. Her face now matched the colour of her paintwork, she was exhausted.

"I told you so." said Lord of the Isles who then turned to the Fat Director who was standing right to him watching everything unfold, "Why not let Earl try?"

"Yes." said the Fat Director, "I will." He then climbed onto a nearby steel barrel, so it was able to take his weight surprisingly, and spoke to Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

"Will you help pull this train Earl of Mount Edgcumbe?" he asked.

"Oh yes!" replied Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. He was delighted that he was gonna venture out onto the mainline again. The Fat Director called for the workmen while Earl of Mount Edgcumbe's driver and fireman returned to him. The driver checked that everything in the cab was still working properly, while the fireman began stoking the fire. Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was feeling warmer and warmer. He was now all fired up and ready to go. As the workmen began to demolish the wall and relay the track, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe puffed out of the tunnel just as he'd fully got up to steam. He was dirty and covered with cobwebs.

"Ooh I'm stiff, I'm stiff!" he groaned as he moved his wheels for the first time in weeks. But all the same, he was happy as he continued to reverse carefully down the line.

"Have a run to ease your joints, and find a turntable." the Fat Director told him. He then boarded the waiting train. Earl of Mount Edgcumbe did soon find a turntable and when he was turned, he reversed back to the train. He was now feeling much better. After coming out of the clear tunnel, he buffered up to the train and was coupled on. Prairie was still waiting at the back.

"PEEP-PEEP!", she whistled "I'm ready!"

"PEEP-PEEP-PEEP!" replied Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, "So am I!"

"Pull hard, we'll do it, push hard, we'll do it!" they puffed together. Lord of the Isles could only watch helplessly as Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Prairie managed to get the train rolling along without any mishaps. They exited the clear tunnel delightfully.

"We've done it together, we've done it together!" said the two smiling engines together.

"You've done it hooray, you've done it hooray!" sang the coaches. Everyone was happy that the train was now moving again. The Fat Director leaned out of the window to wave at Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Prairie. However, because the train was going so fast, his hat was suddenly blown off of his head and it landed into a field where a goat ate it for tea. Unfortunately though, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Prairie failed to notice as they continued on their journey. They never stopped until they reached the final station. The passengers all said thank you and the Fat Director promised Earl of Mount Edgcumbe a new coat of paint.

On their way home, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Prairie helped Lord of the Isles to the works. All three engines are now great friends. Earl of Mount Edgcumbe doesn't mind the rain now, he knows that the best way to keep his paint nice is not to run into tunnels, but to ask his driver to rub him down when the days work's over.

**And that's episode 17 done! I hope you enjoyed my crossover parody of TTTE episodes **_**'A Sad Story of Henry/Come Out Henry'**_** and **_**'Edward, Gordon and Henry/Henry to the Rescue**_**. Please review and I request criticism. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	18. Prairie and the Signal

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - a tank engine has some fun, receives her punishment and learns something new about signals.**

Episode 18: Prairie and the Signal

Prairie regularly works as a shunting engine on the Fat Directors mainline, but has had the chance to work her own trains from time to time, especially around the Mediterranean parts of London. But when she's not doing this work, she'll normally be found doing shunting work in any place where shunting needed to be done. The little tank engine likes to play jokes on the bigger engines from time to time, however they can get her into trouble. One morning, she was in a very cheeky mood indeed. She came across Nunney Castle taking on water in a siding.

"PEEP-PEEP! Hurry up Nunney Castle, your train's ready!" Prairie called. Nunney Castle thought she was late.

"What? Oh no, I'm running late! Where're the coaches?! Have I got enough water for the journey?!" she cried beginning to panic.

"Ha Ha Ha!" laughed Prairie as she puffed away, showing Nunney Castle a train of dirty coal trucks. After calming down, Nunney Castle was furious. She began thinking of a way to pay Prairie out. And it turned out Nunney Castle wasn't the only engine to suffer from Prairies tricks, as the small red engine soon spotted another big engine to have fun with over at Carnforth.

"Stay in the shed today Gauge O Guild, the Fat Director will come and see you." she informed the 8F.

"Ahhh." thought Gauge O Guild impressively as Prairie puffed away smirking, "The Fat Director knows I'm a fine big engine. He wants me to pull a special train." So Gauge O Guild refused to leave his shed at Carnforth until the Fat Director arrived. His driver and fireman couldn't make him move. And it wasn't just them, some of the other engines were grumbling to because they had to do Gauge O Guild's work as well as their own, whether it be passengers or goods. That afternoon, Gauge O Guild was still resting comfortably in his shed when his driver and fireman returned and they'd brought an inspector with them.

"Show a wheel Gauge O Guild, you can't stay here all day." said the inspector sternly.

"The Fat Director told me to stay here." explained Gauge O Guild, "He sent a message this morning."

"No he didn't." exclaimed the inspector as the driver and fireman hopped into their engines cab, "How could he anyway? You do realise that he has been away for the past week right?" Gauge O Guild suddenly remembered.

"Oh." said Gauge O Guild upon realisation of what'd actually happened with Prairie lying to him, "Arrrrrrrgh! Where's that Prairie?!" Gauge O Guild shouted as he chuffed out of his shed in search of that mischievous tank engine. Prairie meanwhile had wisely disappeared while hauling a goods train. The Fat Director arrived back that evening. Unfortunately though, he did see Gauge O Guild, and Prairie too, both engines wished he hadn't as he would proceed to scold them.

The next day, Prairie was careless and was still in a bit of a cheeky mood. She met up with Nunney Castle and Gauge O Guild before setting off to work.

"I say, you engines, I'm to take some coal trucks to the junction. The Fat Director chose me especially. He must know I'm a really useful engine." Prairie said to them confidently.

"Oh really Prairie? I think it's more likely that he wants you out of the way." grunted Nunney Castle. Gauge O Guild looked across to Nunney Castle, they were making a plan.

"Nunney Castle and I were just speaking about signals at the junction." he explained, "You can't be too careful about signals, but then I needn't say that to a really useful engine like you Prairie." Prairie felt flattered upon hearing these words.

"We'd spoken of 'backing' signals." put in Nunney Castle, "They need extra special care you know. Would you like me to explain?"

"No thanks Nunney Castle." said Prairie, "I know all about signals." Prairie's confidence did take a bit of a knock upon hearing about this 'backing' signals, she was now feeling a little worried.

"I wonder what 'backing' signals are?" she thought as she puffed away to collect the trucks. She soon arrived at the yards where the trucks were waiting. She was coupled up to them and she whistled away. The thoughts of a backing signal was still fresh in her mind though.

"Never mind, I'll manage." she said as she puffed along calming herself down and putting her mind at ease over the whole ordeal. As she puffed down the line with the trucks rattling behind her, surprisingly behaving themselves for once, she was still feeling flattered about Gauge O Guild agreeing with her that she's definitely a really useful engine. Just then, she found herself approaching a signal. Unfortunately though, it was set at red meaning stop.

"Bother, it's at danger." Prairie huffed as she stopped. After a few minutes of impatient waiting, the signal finally moved to show line clear. Unusually though, Its arm moved up instead of down. Prairie didn't remember seeing those sorts of signal before. Down means go and up means stop, so upper still must mean go back.

"I know it's one of those 'backing' signals." she thought.

"Come on Prairie." said her driver, "Off we go." Suddenly, there was a wheesh of steam and the driver felt movement from Prairie.

"STOP! You're going the wrong way!" he shouted.

"But it's a 'backing' signal." Prairie protested as she stopped going backwards and told him about what Gauge O Guild and Nunney Castle had said to her. The driver laughed and explained.

"So you see Prairie, it doesn't matter if the signal arm goes up or down, whichever direction it goes, it'll always mean all clear for the engine to go. There's nothing about a signal that means reverse. Gauge O Guild and Nunney Castle had been lying to you and you fell for their trick."

"Oh dear." thought Prairie sadly, realising her mistake, "Well what're we waiting for? Lets get out of here quickly before anyone of them sees us!" Sadly though, she was too late because just at that moment, she heard a deep, low-toned whistle. It was Gauge O Guild and he had seen everything. As he puffed past with his coaches, he couldn't help but laugh as the sorry sight of poor Prairie. Prairie's face went as red as her paintwork as she puffed miserably away in the direction that's the opposite of backwards. She remained silent throughout the rest of her journey feeling very terrible over this whole ordeal.

Prairie arrived at the junction that evening. She had just shunted the trucks into place and was being uncoupled from them when Gauge O Guild and Nunney Castle arrived and…well I think you can guess what they were talking about can't you? Plus, Gauge O Guild was also telling Nunney Castle about Prairie's little moment with the so-called 'backing' signal. They thought the subject was very funny, however Prairie didn't. She was just angrily thinking that the big engines were now just being very silly.

**And that's episode 18 done! I hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Percy and the Signal'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	19. A Runaway Tornado

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - the main character falls ill, needs a brake and inexplicably goes on a run.**

Episode 19: A Runaway Tornado

One morning, Tornado was feeling ill. Workmen had tried their best to make her better, however it was all to no avail. There was only choice for the Fat Director.

"It looks like you're gonna have to go to the works Tornado." he said to her, "Unfortunately though, the best way to get there's by road, therefore you'll have to be transported on the back of a lorry." Tornado sighed heavily.

"Very well then sir." she said miserably as the lorry arrived to take her away. Rood Ashton Hall was also in the yard. He and the Fat Director watched as Tornado was carefully pulled onto the trailer of the lorry by a winch. With Tornado onboard, the lorry was ready to go.

"Don't worry Tornado!" called Rood Ashton Hall, "I'm sure you'll feel better soon!" Tornado just groaned in response as the lorry proceeded to take her to the works. With Tornado gone, the Fat Director turned his attention to Rood Ashton Hall.

"Alright Rood Ashton Hall, you'll be doing Tornados work until she comes back. Do you think you can do that?" he asked. Rood Ashton Hall was delighted.

"Of course I can sir." he answered happily.

Rood Ashton Hall handled all of Tornado's jobs without any problems whatsoever. On this day when picking up passengers at Tamworth station, in the stations car park was Roberto and he was very impressed.

"You're doing very well with Tornado's jobs in her absence Rood Ashton Hall." he told him, "Be sure to keep up the good work." Rood Ashton Hall felt very proud as he puffed away. And it wasn't just Roberto that was impressed with Rood Ashton Halls work, all the other engines were in agreement that he was doing a fantastic job replacing Tornado, although the big, young, blue engine was being gratefully missed and they were all looking forward to her return.

After one week, Tornado returned to work feeling much better. Some of the other engines told her about how well Rood Ashton Hall had managed. Tornado was so pleased to be home that she soon forgot to be jealous of the non-believing fact that Rood Ashton Hall was seemingly more useful than her, as she recognised the fact that they were both useful and well-loved engines. One day, she puffed past Rood Ashton Hall.

"Thanks for doing my jobs for me Rood Ashton Hall." Tornado thanked, "You're really an engine we can all rely on."

"No problem Tornado." replied Rood Ashton Hall, "Glad to see that you're now feeling better." However, the works hadn't fully fixed Tornado's handbrake because it felt very stiff. It made it look as though her brakes were hard on, when in fact there weren't. And Tornado was about to find out what effect this had on her. As she approached a station, she tried to stop, however she only slowed down very, very slowly resulting in her overrunning the platform. She did finally manage to stop, but she was what looked like miles away from the station. She had to reverse back into it. As she pushed the coaches back, she could hear the passengers grumbling and complaining about the overshoot. Tornado found this most embarrassing, her cheeks were turning bright red with humiliation. Gradually though, after a few days, her driver and fireman had learned to be extra careful and Tornado would no longer overrun station platforms, much to the relief of everyone.

Unfortunately though, one day everything changed after it was announced that Tornados fireman had fallen ill and a relief man had taken his place. As Tornado reversed into the station and buffered up to her coaches, her replacement fireman coupled her up. He then joined the driver and stationmaster on the platform, to wait for the passengers wanting to change to her train from the train that was gonna be brought in by Galatea in a few minutes. However, the fireman had completely forgotten about Tornados handbrake, and no one had noticed, not even Tornado herself. Tornado simmered happily.

"Not long now." she thought. Just then, she could hear Galatea slowly approaching. Tornado's brakes weren't hard on though and suddenly, just as Galatea entered the station, Tornado felt her wheels begin to move.

"Wait, what the…!?" cried Tornado alarmingly. She tried to stop, but she couldn't without her driver and fireman. As Galatea stopped alongside the platform, Tornado tried to whistle a warning, but she couldn't do that either! The guard, driver, fireman and passengers were all left stranded on the platform.

"Hey Tornado, where're you going?!" Galatea called out. She got no response though because Tornado couldn't hear her.

"STOP, STOP!" shrieked the coaches. However Tornado, with plenty of steam, just kept on going helplessly.

"HELP, HELP!" she screamed as she sped along the line. Meanwhile, back at the station, the passengers were left wondering where their train had gone. Tornado's driver and fireman were discussing what'd happened on the platform.

"You did check the handbrake didn't you?" asked the driver.

"Of course I did." replied the fireman, however the driver was suspecting that something wasn't right.

"Are you sure?" he asked sternly.

"Err…ok I didn't I was just being lazy." answered the fireman hastily wanting to get this over with. The driver wasn't happy to hear this.

"Why you blithering idiot!" he shouted. Just then, the guard stepped in.

"Now, now you two, this' no time for arguing and fighting.", he told them, "We've got to stop our runaway Tornado!" He quickly made a phone call to an inspector, who made an arrangement with Harry the Helicopter to pick him up. The inspector waited for Harry to arrive at the helipad. When Harry did eventually arrive, the inspector filled him in on his plan to stop Tornado. With that sorted, the inspector hoped into the cab and Harry took off into the sky. They had to find Tornado as fast as possible. Speaking of the devil, Tornado meanwhile was beginning to feel tired as she was now, thankfully, starting to slow down.

"I need to stop, I need to stop." she panted wearily as her cheeks for the second time today went red, although this time with exhaustion and not embarrassment. Back in the sky, Harry and the inspector were still looking for Tornado. They looked through countryside and fields, hills and mountains, however there was still no sign of Tornado.

"Oh where can that big, young blue engine be?" asked Harry worryingly.

"We'll find her Harry, don't you worry." assured the inspector as they continued their search. Minutes past and they still had no luck, but suddenly…

"Aha, I've found her inspector, I've found her!" Harry shouted happily.

"Good work Harry." smiled the determined inspector, "Now, in order to make our plan work, we've got to get to the next station before she does, so lets go!" And with that, Harry picked up speed, Tornado was right below his nose. He raced past her and up to the next station. Just as Tornado was approaching the station, she saw Harry land.

"Ok inspector, best of luck in stopping her old chap." said Harry.

"Thanks Harry." replied the inspector as he hurried onto the platform and waiting for the right moment when Tornado would be close enough, "Alright Tornado, come closer…closer…even closer…bit more, and…", just as Tornado was in the correct place, he leaped from the platform and into the cab, "Right, I'm in. Now for the brakes." He screwed the brakes hard on. At last, Tornado stopped. Both she and the inspector were very relieved.

"Phew…thank goodness…that's over." Tornado managed to speak between breaths, "Thanks Harry."

"Think nothing of it." whirred Harry, "Glad to be of service, anytime."

"Thank god." remarked the inspector, "Now then Tornado, you must never let this happen again. You hear me?"

"Yeah, you're right there sir." Tornado wearily agreed.

**And that's episode 19 done! I hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'The Runaway'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	20. A Hogwarts Style Promise

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - children go to the seaside, Olton Hall receives a warning and a guard grumbles about some floorboards.**

Episode 20: A Hogwarts Style Promise

Every summer, the Great British mainlines are always very busy. Holiday makers love to sightsee and when the weather's fine, there's no better place to visit. Some people like to go to the mountains, while others like to visit the valleys. If there's one thing the children love though, it had to be the seaside. One morning, Tornado was puffing along the line that runs by the coast. All her coaches were packed not only with passengers, but a small portion of them was some children going to the beach and they were all very excited. She slowly chuffed along the Dawlish seawall as the photographers all got their snapshot of her. As she entered the station, she found Olton Hall already there getting ready to leave on a light engine move.

"Oh hello Tornado." said Olton Hall, "You look like you're in a cheerful mood today. I wish I could take passengers and children today instead of going on this light engine movement."

"Well those children are the vicars Sunday school." explained Tornado, "I'm busy this evening, but the stationmaster says, I can ask you to take the children home. So would you like to take the children home tonight Olton Hall?"

"Oh I'd love to Tornado. With the power of Hogwarts behind me, I swear to you that I'll get the children home safely!" promised Olton Hall as she puffed away. Tornado giggled, Olton Hall did like to believe she always had the power of Hogwarts behind her whenever she had jobs to do, it was her way of making sure she was able to do them safely and on time. Besides, she wanted everyone to know that she was the chosen engine for the Harry Potter films, although all her friends knew about this already. Later that afternoon, Olton Hall was waiting at a red signal, still on her light engine move. Just then, she could hear a familiar whirring sound coming from above. At that moment, Harry the Helicopter lowered himself down and was now hovering in front of her, taking Olton Hall completely by surprise.

"Isn't what you're doing right now a bit dangerous Harry?" Olton Hall asked.

"Never mind that Olton Hall, I just come to tell you that bad weather's due tonight, so I'm gonna be on high alert." replied Harry, "Let me know of you need my help will you?"

"Oh what a load of poppycock!" huffed Olton Hall, "As long as I've got rails to run, I can go anywhere in any weather, anyhow. Now would you please buzz off? My signals changed to green so, goodbye." Harry flew out of Olton Halls way allowing the very fed up GWR Hall to puff off on her way again. Olton Hall soon arrived at Exeter St Davids station. It was a beautiful day, however Lord of the Isles, who was also there, was feeling worried.

"Now listen carefully to me Olton Hall. It might be sunny now, but there's a storm brewing tonight." he warned, "I'm sure Harry has already warned you about this, so be careful taking the children here at Exeter St Davids station which's their home tonight." Olton Hall didn't seem fazed by this though.

"Don't worry about it Lord of the Isles, a promise's a promise." she replied confidently, "With the power of Hogwarts behind me, I'm gonna get those children home, no matter what the weather." She then puffed away, leaving Lord of the Isles even more worried. Would his friend be able to make it without incident?

The children were having a wonderful day at the beach as the vicar watched over them to make sure they were behaving themselves. However, by teatime, dark clouds were beginning to loom overhead. The vicar sensed it was time to leave and head for home. He found the waiting coaches at Dawlish station. He gathered up all the children and guided them over to the coaches. Just as they were boarding the train, Olton Hall reversed in and was coupled up, he was just in time. Rain was now beginning to fall and it was streaming down Olton Halls boiler.

"Ugh!" shivered Olton Hall. She couldn't wait 'til this was over so she could get back to her nice warm shed. When all the children and the vicar were onboard the train, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Olton Hall whistled back and set off, just as the waves from the tide that had come in crashed against the seawall, spreading and splashing seawater absolutely everywhere. Fortunately for Olton Hall though, the spray went all over the coaches and not her, though she would need to hurry, she didn't want to be late. Olton Hall puffed past coastal villages and into the countryside. As she chugged along, the water in the river she was now riding alongside was rising fast because of the rain. Olton Hall pressed on determined though, even if she still had more than one problem with the rain.

"I wish I could see, I wish I could see!" she exclaimed as she battled against the wind. Then there was more trouble that lay up ahead. Before Olton Hall could do anything, she found herself puffing into some flooded track pushing against some dirty looking rainwater. This flooding was deeper than she would've expected. As Olton Hall stopped in the dirty rainwater, it rose over her buffers and was just touching her firebox. Even the driver and fireman found their shoes drenched. Steam wheeshed everywhere desperately.

"Argh!" wheeshed Olton Hall, "All this dirty rainwater's sloshing my fire!" The driver and fireman realised that they'd have to find some more firewood in order to keep Olton Halls dying fire going. And they knew the perfect place to access that required firewood. They got out of the cab and the dirty rainwater was able to ascend all the way up to their waists. They carefully made their way up to the brake coach where the guard was wanting to talk to them about the situation. Before the guard could speak though, the driver beat him to it.

"I'll have some of your floorboards please." he said.

"I only swept the floor this morning." grumbled the guard. He still helped though. The driver, fireman and guard took the floorboards, or should that be the new firewood, from the brake coach and took the pieces over to Olton Halls cab. Then, as the guard made his way back to the brake coach, the driver and fireman stoked the firebox with more coal and used the new firewood to block the dirty rainwater from getting in and dampen it down. Soon Olton Halls fire was burning well and she was beginning to feel warm and comfortable again. Just then, she could hear that familiar whirring sound from above again. She looked up and saw Harry flying overhead.

"Oh dear." she thought sadly, "Now that the power of Hogwarts has failed me for the first time, Harry has come to laugh at me." Just as she finished her sentence, something dropped out of Harry with a white parachute attached to it. It suddenly thudded onto Olton Halls boiler. Thankfully the boiler survived the sudden thud without any dents or scratches, though it did still hurt.

"Ouch!" cried Olton Hall, "He needn't throw things!" The driver then realised what had been dropped as he took a closer look.

"It's a parachute!" he laughed, "Harry's dropping hot drinks for us!" He was right as the package contained drinks containers filled with hot drinks like tea or coco.

"Thank you Harry!" called Olton Hall.

"Good to be of service." replied Harry, and with that, he buzzed away. With the hot drinks stored in the cab, the driver and fireman decided to try and keep on going, and Olton Hall agreed. The dirty rainwater was lapping Olton Halls wheels as she slowly but surely began to puff forward. She was beginning to loose steam again, but she wasn't going to let that stop her, so she plunged bravely on. She finally saw the end of the flooding and found herself raising out of the dirty rainwater, though the effects of it rested on her flood-stained boiler. Now running along smooth rails, she continued onwards.

"I promised!" she panted as she charged on though the rain and towards her destination which was Exeter St Davids station, "I promised!" At last, Exeter St Davids station appeared up ahead. With one more big effort, at last, exhausted but triumphant, Olton Hall managed to puff into Exeter St Davids station and had successfully brought the train and the children home. Tornado was already waiting there and was delighted to see Olton Hall.

"Well done Olton Hall!" she cheered, "Despite everything that was thrown at you, thanks to your Hogwarts power, you've managed to keep your promise!"

"Phew! Thanks Tornado" Olton Hall managed to breath out, "But believe me when I say, that if it was you that went through what I've just been through, we'd be in even more serious trouble. With all that dirty rainwater, if you charged into those floods down the line, you'd probably create a real water tornado which would end up in disaster for us." Tornado rolled her eyes at Olton Halls little joke but still smiled. Just then, the Fat Director emerged onto the platform. First, he thanked the men and then he turned his attention to Olton Hall.

"Harry told me you were a…err wizard. He said that he could beat you at some things but, not at being a submarine." Olton Hall looked rather angry over these words as Fat Director continued, "I don't know what you two get up to sometimes, but I do know that you're a really useful engine." Olton Hall couldn't stay angry over those words from Harry for long as she cheered up almost immediately.

"Oh sir." she whispered smiling, wheeshing steam happily.

**And that's episode 20 done! I hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Percy's Promise'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	21. Alycidon Takes a Tumble

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - the diesels return, Tornado mispronounces a word and a guard gets injured in an unbelievably big accident.**

Episode 21: Alycidon Takes a Tumble

Workloads were ever increasing and all the engines were beginning to complain. The sooner some source of diesel oil's found the better they'd say. They say diesel oil because only diesels would be able to help them because with their friends Princess Elizabeth, King Edward I and Duke of Gloucester all undergoing overhauls, their diesel friends, well the ones with a mainline certificate at least, were the only ones left to turn to. They needed help, and fast. The Fat Director knew this and he was doing his best to find some diesel oil form somewhere. Eventually, he was in discussions with an oil company from another country to see if he could use some of the diesel oil from the company for his diesel engines. The company agreed, although they'd only bring enough diesel oil to fuel up four diesel engines. The Fat Director didn't seem to mind this because he knew the perfect four diesel engines to give the new fuel to. The chosen engines were three BR Class 55 Deltics, no.D9009 _'Alycidon'_, no.55022 _'Royal Scots Grey'_ and no.55002 _'King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry' __**(Also known by his initials - K.O.Y.L.I.)**_. The fourth diesel engine to receive an equal share of the oil was BR Class 52 Western no.D1015 _'Western Champion'_. The Fat Director chose these four diesels because they were probably the most popular mainline certified diesels engines working across the Great British mainlines today. The aforementioned male diesels were delighted when they received the great news because it meant they could now return to work and help the steam engines, who themselves were very grateful after hearing the news. With the diesels help, life was much easier for the steam engines and the diesels felt very proud and important, but none more so than Alycidon. One morning, Alycidon was picking up passengers at Doncaster station when Western Champion and Tornado rolled up alongside him.

"Watch out." huffed Alycidon, "You'll get my green paint all sooty!"

"Well, pulling trucks can be a sooty job Alycidon." teased Western Champion, 'I've done it myself before, I wish I hadn't though, but all the same you wouldn't know that of course."

"Of course not." replied Alycidon importantly, "Proud Deltics like me don't pull trucks because it wouldn't be dignified."

"Dingified?" puzzled Tornado, "What's that?"

"Dignified!" Alycidon corrected, "It means…"

"It means someone's too big for his buffers." teased Western Champion.

"Pah!" huffed Alycidon, and he rolled indignantly away.

That night, fog covered Great Britain. Everything slowed down and soon the docks was packed with waiting trucks, which was causing confusion and delay **(oh great, now I'm saying that goddamn catchphrase!)**. The Fat Director was searching for some engines to help, he was in a great hurry. He soon found Alycidon, Tornado, Hawksworth and Prairie resting in the yards.

"Tornado, Hawksworth and Prairie." he said, "You three must go to the docks immediately."

"Yes sir." whistled the three engines, and they puffed away. Then the Fat Director turned his attention to the big green diesel engine.

"You too Alycidon." he said, "I need a big engine to take the trucks where they won't be in the way." And with that, he left.

"Trucks?!" huffed Alycidon as he rumbled away, he simply couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Alycidon wasn't happy to be pulling trucks. At the docks, when he was in the correct position, he waited impatiently while Prairie shunted his trucks into place.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Alycidon called angrily. Prairie just ignored the bigmouthed diesel as she slowly pushed the trucks onto the buffers of Alycidon. The workmen then began to couple the Deltic up to the train.

"Why the rush Alycidon?" asked Hawksworth who was parked alongside.

"If I must pull trucks, then I'll show Western Champion how a proud Deltic pulls trucks!" he huffed as Western Champion himself rolled in.

"You might want to be careful Alycidon." Western Champion tooted, "You don't want to get too big for your buffers." Alycidon however, ignored Western Champion. He just sounded his horn and rumbled on his way.

The next morning, Alycidon was whirring along the line pulling his heavy load.

"Now this' how you pull trucks." he whirred with the trucks rattling merrily behind him. Up ahead was the junction. The signalman was waiting for Alycidon inside his signal box. Unfortunately though, no one had told him that it was gonna be Alycidon hauling the heavy goods train from the docks, so he wasn't able to hear him approaching as well as he would've with a steam engine. And to add to that, he'd accidentally left the points switched to an old closed branch line. Alycidon rattled through the junction.

"That's strange." he exclaimed, "I'm on the old closed branch line." Only now did the signalman hear Alycidon whirr past him. He noticed the big green Deltic heading in the wrong direction.

"Oh no!" he cried, "Express trains aren't supposed to go that way!" But it was already too late because Alycidon had already raced into the distance. As Alycidon made his way down the old branch line, he could see why it was closed, the tracks were weak and rusty. Just then, he spotted an old sign up ahead which was warning all trains to 'Go Slow'. As Alycidon whirred past the sign though, he completely ignored it.

"I'm a proud Deltic and Deltics don't go slow." he said and he went even faster. Then there was trouble. The branch line could no longer take his weight and the rails began to buckle. He came across a dip in the ground. As he went over it, his weight pushed the rails down beneath him. He soon overbalanced and found himself and the trucks derailing.

"Ooh help!" he cried as he slid off the tracks. The trucks tumbled down the hill, constantly crashing into one another. The guard in the brake van certainly didn't see this coming because he was being thrown all over the place. As for Alycidon, well as well as coming off the rails, he found himself still ongoing on his journey, only he was now travelling on his own and straight through a field. He fist came across a pile of hay in front of him. He charged helplessly through the hay bales. It didn't stop him though because up next was a set of tyres. He collided with the tyres, knocking them out of the way. However, he was still moving forwards, and because he was traversing this on grass instead of rails, he was thinking how's this even possible! Finally, he spotted an old shed up ahead. He closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable impact. With a loud crash, he smashed his way through the shed door, breaking it into heaps on the ground. He made his way through the shed, bursting through the wooden wall at the back, launching pieces of wood everywhere, before finally coming to a stop by splashing into a mud bank. Alycidon breathed a collective sigh of relief, thank goodness that's now over. No one was hurt…well except the guard after he was thrown about on the brake van earlier. His injuries were a suspected broken arm and a shattered ankle. At least the driver wasn't hurt though, however poor Alycidon felt very, 'undignified'.

"What'll the Fat Director say?" he groaned as he looked up at the scarecrow that was standing tall and proud on the other side of the mud bank. Alycidon found out what the Fat Director had to say soon enough. He arrived at the scene along with the breakdown cranes which started clearing up this massive mess.

"Well Alycidon" the Fat Director said angrily, "You wanted to show Western Champion a thing or two and you've certainly done that! You've shown him how stupid it is to ignore 'Go Slow' signs!"

"Sorry sir." Alycidon replied miserably as he let out a sad whirr of his thankfully unharmed engine.

After a few weeks, Alycidon was repaired and back at the docks ready for work. However, he was still feeling very unhappy with himself. As he stopped at the quayside, he came across his blue-painted brothers K.O.Y.L.I. and Royal Scots Grey.

"Everyone makes mistakes." K.O.Y.L.I. said, "Even you brother."

"Western Champion's sorry he teased you." whirred Royal Scots Grey.

"And I'm sorry I was too big for my buffers." smiled Alycidon. And with that, the three brothers gave a jolly blast of their horns, even Alycidon.

**And that's episode 21 done! I hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Gordon Takes a Tumble'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	22. Postal Delay

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**Tonight - Alderman A E Draper turns up late, Harry grumbles about being grounded and we discover what really is, apparently, the pride of the line.**

Episode 22: Postal Delay

When the skies go dark and it's night time, when the other engines are tucked up nice and warm in their sheds, people would still be able to hear the faraway call of an engines whistle and the clickety-clack of train wheels turning. This sound's the sound of the post train. The mail's split into two trains with one mail train being pulled by Swindon and the other mail train being pulled by Pannier because the loads are too heavy for one engine to do the work on their own…apparently. The post's loaded into mail trucks from the harbours and both the tank engine brothers pull their trains through the silent stations delivering their precious loads. Occasionally when it's a clear night, a big shiny moon would brighten up their journey, however it was often the case that Swindon and Pannier could hardly ever see the stars. But no matter what the weather was like, with their bright shiny lamps guiding them along the track, the brothers would always find their way from one station to the next. One night, Pannier was waiting impatiently at the junction. He couldn't continue with his deliveries until a mainline goods train had arrived and it was running late.

"Where's that stupid Alderman A E Draper and his damn goods train?!" he asked his footplate crew impatiently, "That black 5 should've arrived here ages ago, what on earth's keeping him?! I'm gonna be late if he doesn't hurry up!"

"Calm down Pannier." assured the fireman, "I'm sure he's gonna arrive here soon." Pannier just huffed, Alderman A E Draper really couldn't arrive soon enough. Eventually though, after half an hour of waiting impatiently, Alderman A E Draper arrived with the goods train.

"Sorry I'm late Pannier." he puffed, "The mail boat we've got helping us with all this work was delayed."

"Come on Pannier!" said his driver, "Lets go and make up for lost time!" As he and the fireman hopped into the cab, Pannier blew his whistle and puffed away. He could now carry on from where he left off and deliver more letters and parcels. Pannier puffed as quickly as he could making all his deliveries, however the sun was already rising by the time he finally finished his round.

"Never mind." Pannier thought as he puffed into Manchester Airport station, "It's nice to be up and about when it's the start of a new day and there's no one else around." Pannier was wrong however because he then heard a whirring sound from above. He looked up and wasn't pleased when he discovered what it was.

"Bother!" he huffed, "It's that dizzy thing Harry!"

"Good morning Pannier." whirred Harry as he hovered rather dangerously in front of Pannier, "I always thought that railways are out of date and because you're so slow with the post, you should give everyone their stamps back, post-haste." And with that, he buzzed away. Pannier was too tired to explain.

"Birdbrain." he muttered angrily.

Later that morning, Pannier was now feeling very tired. It was as though he was gonna fall asleep any moment. He'd already dropped off his mail trucks and he was now slowly rolling into Sheffield station and began reversing into one of the station sidings. Another back 5 in Sherwood Forester was already there on a passenger run.

"Good morning little Pannier!" called Sherwood Forester, "Up early for once are you?"

"No, you're wrong you big silly black 5." sighed Pannier as he let out a big yawn before continuing to speak, "I've just finished my work and now I'm back tired and late." He rolled into the siding and fell asleep almost instantly. Smiling at the sight and not minding being called silly, Sherwood Forester puffed away as quietly and as peacefully as she could so she didn't wake up the little tank engine.

The driver of Pannier decided to set of to work early that evening. However there was no need for Pannier to leave Sheffield station because he noticed that his mail trucks were parked alongside him. He was just about change tracks and buffer up to them when his brother Swindon arrived with his own mail trucks.

"Thank goodness I now have the chance to speak to you brother." said Swindon worryingly, "Driver says that the person in charge of the post has complained to the Fat Director about the delay last night."

"But that wasn't my fault." replied Pannier sadly.

"I know." said Swindon, "And so does the Fat Director, however this post person just wouldn't listen. So tonight, we're just gonna have to work quicker than ever before." The two tank engine brothers were about to puff away when they heard a familiar buzzing as Harry hovered, rather dangerously it has to be said, again, in front of them.

"I say you two, there's news flying about." he said.

"Where?" puffed Pannier.

"All over the place. They're going to scrap the post train and use me instead. Wings work wonders you know, always." And with that, he buzzed away, leaving the two tank engine brothers very angry about this whole ordeal.

"Rubbish!" huffed Swindon as he angrily wheeshed out of the station with his mail trucks. That night, everything ran like clockwork. Swindon and Pannier steamed through all the stations making good time everywhere they went. When one brother would steam across coastal routes, the other would steam along the countryside. Later that night at a rather empty looking Tyseley station, Swindon noticed a man in a black coat and hat with a yellow scarf looking cold and worried. He'd missed his train home. The driver and fireman of Swindon made their acquaintance with the man.

"We can give you a ride." offered the driver, "However It would be rather uncomfortable I'm afraid." The man didn't seem to mind at all about this piece of news though.

"Thank you." he said happily, "Anything's better than sitting here." The guard decided to let the man join him in the brake van. The man didn't seem to mind this, as long as Swindon was able to take him as close as home as possible, he was happy.

It was windy the next day, and that afternoon, Pannier was puffing once again through Manchester Airport station. To his surprise, as he stopped alongside the platform, he could see Harry resting on the ground feeling very miserable. Not only was it surprising, Pannier also found it rather funny. He called out to the helicopter.

"Hello lazy wings!" he teased, "Are you too tired to fly today?"

"The wind's too strong for me to fly so I've been grounded!" grumbled Harry. Pannier couldn't help but laugh at the poor helicopter.

"You need rails!" laughed Pannier, "They work wonders you know, always!" And with that, with a blow of his whistle, Pannier puffed happily away, leaving Harry to continue grumbling miserably.

That night, Swindon and Pannier had finished their work for the day. They were now having a much needed rest in the sidings at Sheffield station. Just then, they spotted the Fat Director walking over to them. He was holding what looked like a big piece of paper. What it actually was, was a letter that was sent to him through the mail the tank engine brothers had delivered. This particular letter was sent to the Fat Director from the man who'd missed his train. The Fat Director read the letter to the tank engine brothers.

"He thinks that you're both splendid." said the Fat Director, "And everyone says that the post train's the pride of the line." Swindon and Pannier sounded their whistles proudly and delightfully.

**And that's episode 22 done! I hope you enjoyed my parody of TTTE episode **_**'Thomas, Percy and the Post Train'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and I apologise if it's a bit short. And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, goodnight!**


	23. The Xmas Exploit of Clan Line

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**In tonight's Christmas special - Scots Guardsman sings a classic song, Clan Line has trouble starting a train and a couple of tank engines get their pictures taken.**

Episode 23: The Xmas Exploit of Clan Line

Christmas was edging ever closer, and everyday the engines were getting more and more excited. However, on the 23rd December, a snowstorm raged across the country that night. It blew fiercely littering snow everywhere. When the storm died down the next morning, the country was covered in thick snow. The engines were going to fins life difficult in there conditions, and what made this a double whammy was that today was Christmas eve, Christmas day was tomorrow. Of all the engines to wake up and work in these conditions, only one was smiling through it all, and that was Scots Guardsman. The LMS Royal Scot loved the snow, no matter how hard it was, he just loved the beautiful scenery it was able to provide. In fact, as he left his shed en route to London Euston station, just looking around at all the snow reminded him of a song he knew.

_(Scots Guardsman sings the TTTE Snow Song, see if you can spot the differences)_

_You wake to the silence, the bright afterglow,_

_Now there's a surprise, for what do you know,_

_It's snowing,_

_Look it's snowing._

_Little Jack Frost has been busy last night,_

_The British mainline tracks are a blanket of white,_

_Cause it's snowing,_

_Yes it's snowing._

_White winter wonderland,_

_Beautiful day,_

_Snow-snow-snow-snow,_

_Snow-snow-snow-snow._

_(As Scots Guardsman travels through a snow covered valley, he stops at a red signal and notices Tornado approaching)_

_There in the valley, someone you'll know,_

_The big young blue train finds her way through the snow,_

_Whistle blowing,_

_(Tornado blows her chime whistle as she races past Scots Guardsman. The signal then changes to green and Scots Guardsman continues on his way)_

_It's a beautiful world, it's a lovely day,_

_Cherish this moment, remember this day,_

_Cause it's snowing,_

_Yes it's snowing._

_White winter wonderland,_

_Beautiful day,_

_Snow-snow-snow-snow._

_(Scots Guardsman passes some children laughing and having fun in the snow, he smiles to them as he puffs past)_

_White winter wonderland,_

_Beautiful day,_

_Snow-snow-snow-snow,_

_Snow-snow-snow-snow._

_Stay, stay, please stay._

Scots Guardsman sighed happily as he approached London Euston station where his coaches were waiting. As he arrived, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, Sir Nigel Gresley, Clan Line, Braunton, Tangmere and The Great Marquess were all already there.

"Hello everyone, what's going on?" asked Scots Guardsman.

"You're about to find out buddy." answered The Great Marquess as he puffed away with his coaches. You see, some special visitors had come to the country from far and wide. They wanted to make sure that the countries railways were safe in time for Christmas, so you could say they're some form of inspectors, and as today's Christmas eve, it was their last day before they attend a Christmas party tonight, after which they'd return home so they can be with their families in time for Christmas morning. Clan Line was preparing to take them further down the line to meet Swindon and Pannier. However, before she could set off, there was a problem. All the coaches were packed to the rafters, so the train was very heavy. Also, with this snowy weather, the rails were gonna be unbelievably slippery, especially as Clan Line herself was parked outside. Clan Line was feeling rather worried, would she be able to pull this off, especially at her old age. Just then, the guard blew his whistle, the moment of truth had arrived. Clan Line whistled back and began to pull. The train only moved a couple of inches before grinding to a halt as Clan Line's wheels began to slip and spin on the snow-stained rails. The other five engines were watching her struggle and three of them found this sight very amusing.

"Can you see her straining?" asked Scots Guardsman.

"Positively painful." remarked Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

"Look at that, it's just pathetic isn't it eh?" grunted Sir Nigel Gresley, "She should give up while she still can before it's too late." Braunton and Tangmere weren't enjoying hearing the other engines making fun of the Merchant Navy.

"Oh, will you three boys just shut up!" burst out Braunton, "You're all just jealous. Clan Line's better than any of you!"

"You're right Braunton." agreed Tangmere as Clan Line continued to struggle with her cheeks turning bright red, "Clan Line may very well be an old girl, like me, but she'll surprise us all."

"I've done it, we're off, I've done it, we're off!" cried Clan Line as she finally managed to puff out of the station. Clan Line was now chuffing along the line. However, after exiting London Euston station in that sort of fashion, she was very worried. Would this be her final journey before succumbing to old age and the Fat Director sending her away for scrap? She worried about her health all the way along her journey.

Clan Line managed to arrive at Nuneaton station safely, where Swindon and Pannier were waiting. The two tank engines were delighted to see the visitors because they love being photographed. The visitors exited Clan Line's coaches and one half boarded Swindon's coaches while the other half boarded Pannier's coaches. When all the visitors were safely onboard, the two trains set off, with Swindon leading. They were taking them to the one place the visitors hadn't yet seen, Doncaster Works. The tank engines had no problems travelling against the slippery rails as their sanding gears were working perfectly, providing grip for them. After a few hours, they arrived at the yards where the workshop was waiting. The visitors climbed down from the coaches and began to venture further into the yards and the workshop. The yard manager gave them all a tour by showing them around the place and what goes on inside the works, for example what they do to fix broken down engines. Everyone had a splendid time and the visitors were most impressed as they took photographs at every opportunity, even Swindon and Pannier were featured in a couple of snapshots. After they were finished, they climbed back aboard Swindon and Panniers coaches and they took them back to Nuneaton. After a few hours, they puffed happily into Nuneaton station where Clan Line was waiting. While Swindon and Pannier had been at Doncaster Works, Clan Line had turned round and was now on the other end of her train facing the other direction.

"The visitors were seemingly impressed Clan Line." said Swindon.

"Now you'd better get them back to London Euston before Union of South Africa leaves, she's taking them to their Christmas party tonight." added Pannier.

"I sincerely hope I can make it in time." prayed Clan Line as she watched the visitors change trains. When they were all onboard, the guard blew his whistle. Clan Line whistled goodbye to Swindon and Pannier and set off on the return journey.

Clan Line was puffing calmly and quietly through some white countryside, still feeling rather worried. Then there was trouble. On the way, the weather changed. Wind was beginning to blow and snow was beginning to fall. The wind and snow buffeted against Clan Line. Her sanding gear then failed, making things worse than it already was. This meant her fireman had to ride in front, out in the cold, and drop sand on the rails by hand. He quickly made his way back into Clan Line's cab when he'd finished. Suddenly, as Clan Line pressed on, her wheels then slipped fiercely, and with a shrieking CRACK, something broke!

"Ow, that hurts!" cried Clan Line as she screeched to a stop. Her footplate crew exited her cab and inspected the damage. Repairs took a long time and the wind and snow was still raging in on them.

"It looks like one of your crank pins has broken Clan Line." said her driver, "So what we've done is taken your side rods off on both sides. So now you look like an old fashioned engine. Now, can you get these people to London Euston? They must catch Union of South Africa before she leaves so they can attend that Christmas party of theirs."

"I'll try sir." promised Clan Line. Smiling, her driver and fireman hopped back into the cab and set to work. The fireman shovelled coal into the fire while the driver opened the regulator. Clan Line pulled and puffed and puffed and pulled her hardest, however her wheels kept slipping against the slippery rails and she couldn't start the heavy train. The passengers were now feeling anxious. The driver, fireman and guard then went along the train, making adjustments between the coaches. When they'd finished, the driver spoke to Clan Line.

"We've loosened the couplings on the coaches Clan Line so now you should be able to pick them up one by one, like a shunting engine would do with trucks." he explained.

"Oh thank you, that'll make things much easier." replied Clan Line. The driver smiled and made his way back into the cab.

"Alright old girl, lets get this train going!" he said determined as he entered the cab.

"Come on!" puffed Clan Line as she moved cautiously forward. The first coach moving helped to start the second, the second helped the third and so on. Eventually, Clan Line was able to get all the coaches moving and she was able to continue her journey to London Euston station.

"I've done it, I've done it!" she puffed. Suddenly, her wheels slipped briefly.

"Steady there girl." warned her driver as he then managed to keep Clan Line in control, "Well done girl. You've got them, you've got them!" And he listened happily to the steady beat Clan Line was producing as she forged slowly but surely ahead.

At last, battered and weary, but unbeaten, Clan Line could see London Euston station in the distance.

"Oh I do hope Union of South Africa's still waiting in the station for us." prayed Clan Line as she approached and then steamed in. But she didn't needn't worry, Union of South Africa was thankfully still in the station waiting for the visitors so she could take them to their Christmas party.

"PEEP-PEEP!" called Clan Line as she finally came to rest at the end of the platform. Union of South Africa was delighted to see her friend.

"You made it Clan Line!" the LNER A4 cheered, "I always knew you could do it!" Clan Line thanked her friend by smiling weakly in return. The Fat Director was also on the platform. He glared at Clan Line pointing angrily at the clock, it turned out she'd arrived late. However, the excited passengers didn't seem to mind. They cheered and thanked Clan Line and her driver and fireman. Clan Line was pleased as the visitors started to make their way over to Union off South Africa and her waiting train. When they were all onboard, Union of South Africa whistled goodbye to Clan Line and puffed merrily away. With Union of South Africa gone, Clan Line turned apologetically to the Fat Director.

"I'm sorry I'm late sir." she told him miserably, "I'll understand that now that I'm old, slow and weak, you'll probably never think of me as a really useful engine anymore, so I'm ready to go to the nearest scrap yard so they can cut me up on your behalf." Suddenly, after a brief moment of silence, to her surprise, the Fat Director burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha! Oh Clan Line, where'd you hear that one from eh? I'd never scrap you! Yes you may very well be old, but you're still in fine working order. All I'm going to do to you, is have workmen at your home of Stewarts Lane depot fix all your worn parts, and of course your broken crank pin. You thoroughly deserve it for being a really useful and reliable engine." Clan Line breathed a collective sigh of relief, she was delighted.

"Oh thank you so much sir, thank you!" she cheered.

That night, on her way home to Stewarts Lane depot, Clan Line was thinking back to the days events. What a Christmas eve it turned out to be for her. She was very thankful that the Fat Director had decided not to scrap her and instead decide to have her worn parts and broken crank pin mended. As she puffed into the depot, she found that it'd been completely blackened. If Clan Line had a heart, it would've sank at this moment in time.

"Ok, who turned out the lights?" she thought rather angrily. Suddenly, all the lights came on. Clan Line gasped in amazement as the lights were all very colourful, and there inside the shed was all of her friends.

"Surprise!" they all called out. Clan Line sighed and smiled happily.

"Thanks so much everyone. What made you want to have this years Christmas party here?" she asked.

"Well Clan Line, after your exploits today, the Fat Director decided that you needed to be rewarded." explained Tangmere.

"So we decided to hold our own Christmas party here at your very own home." added Braunton.

"Also, what was that word I received from Braunton and Tangmere earlier today?" asked Tornado, surprisingly acting wiser than she'd normally first let on, "About three certain engines who shall remain nameless but know who they are, teasing Clan Line for being completely useless for her old age."

"I think it's fair to say that those unnamed engines owe Clan Line an apology." said The Great Marquess firmly. Scots Guardsman, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Sir Nigel Gresley all frowned sadly.

"We're terribly sorry Clan Line." sighed Scots Guardsman.

"You really did prove to be a really useful engine in the end." added Earl of Mount Edgcumbe miserably, "And a reliable one at that."

"Can you ever find it in your boiler to forgive us?" asked Sir Nigel Gresley apologetically.

"Don't worry guys, I forgive you." smiled Clan Line, which cheered up the three engines instantly, "Now lets not let this little and now forgotten moment spoil our party eh?" The engines all whistled delightfully, their Christmas party could now officially get started. As the Christmas themed music played loudly on the stereo speakers, Clan Line smiled happily, this was quite possibly going to be the best Christmas ever.

**And that's my Christmas special done! I hope you enjoyed my Christmas version of TTTE episode **_**'Edward's Exploit'**_**. Please review, I request criticism and the New Year series finale will be uploaded on new years day! And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, have a very happy Christmas, goodnight!**


	24. Tornado and the Missing Decorations

_**Tornado and Friends Mainline Adventures**_

**In tonight's New Year series finale - Kinlet Hall tries on a snow plow, Tornado gets buried alive and there's an important notice at the end that viewers must read.**

Episode 24: Tornado and the Missing Decorations

After the heroics of Clan Line, Christmas was a massive success for the engines. But now, six full, flown by days later, the engines were all exciting for the upcoming New Year celebrations. Today was New Years eve and all the engines were busy with the final preparations. The Fat Director wanted this years New Year party to be an extra special celebration. That afternoon, the Fat Director was waiting impatiently for Tornado at London Euston station. At last, she whistled her way into the station.

"Quickly now." said the Fat Director rather hastily, "The final set of decorations are waiting for you at Kidderminster Town station Tornado. I need you to go and get them as fast as you can because the party's fast approaching."

"Yes sir, right away sir." replied Tornado and she whistled away. While chugging along en route to Kidderminster Town station, Tornado was feeling very excited. She really loved parties, they were one of her favourite activities.

"Oh my gosh, this' gonna be the best New Year party ever!" she said excitedly as she puffed along. After a while, she arrived at Kidderminster Town station. She saw the waiting trucks filled with decorations for the party. Tornado would normally refuse to pull trucks, however as this was a special occasion, she made an exception. As she reversed onto the trucks and was coupled up to them, she looked over at the Kidderminster station that was being used by the Severn Valley Railway. She also saw her friend Kinlet Hall already parked alongside the branch line station platform. She whistled out to her.

"Hello Kinlet Hall!" she called, "Enjoying life on the Severn Valley are you?"

"Oh its been lots of fun Tornado!" Kinlet Hall called back happily, "However I simply cannot wait to return to the mainline as the start of 2014! Oh and I will be at the party tonight, I'll be on my way there once I've finished my days work here!"

"Great to know, look forward to it! Anyway, I've got to deliver these final decorations for the party, I'll see you tonight!" called Tornado as she whistled goodbye and departed the main station.

As she puffed along, Tornado was getting more and more excited. It was looking as though this really was going to be the best New Years party ever. However, Tornado had almost forgotten that they were still in winter and snow was still nestled across the ground. There was a snowstorm last night and the engines that'd been sent to clear the tracks for the others to do their work for the day had seemingly done their jobs. The tracks were clear and Tornado was showing no signs of slowing down, or keeping calm. If she was gonna make this New Years party the best ever, she had to get these final decorations delivered to the National Railway Museum in York, where the party was being held, right on time. Her driver would do his best to calm his engine down when she was beginning to get overexcited or even worry.

"Calm down girl." he would say, "There's plenty of time."

"I'm sorry." would be Tornado's main response, "I just can't help myself. You know how much I love parties and I really want this to be the best New Years party ever." Later, Tornado was still heading for York, but she was now puffing through some hilly scenery. Everywhere she looked, all she could see were hills standing tall and proud and they were all covered in snow.

"Goodness me, it's like I'm travelling through the snowy French Alps out here." huffed Tornado as she trundled along. Then there was trouble. As she rounded a bend, she could see a snowdrift up ahead. The snow must've fallen off a hillside. Tornado gasped and applied her brakes, but her wheels just skidded along the slippery rails. Tornado closed her eyes as she forcefully forged her way into the snowdrift, spraying sprinkles of snow absolutely everywhere. It was as though she'd created a small snow tornado as it floated all over the place before finally settling down back on the soft ground. Tornado though was trapped under all the snow.

"Cinders and ashes!" cried Tornado, "I'm stuck!" and she was, "Right, I mustn't be late, the Fat Director's relying on me."

"Back Tornado, back!" called her driver. Whistling bravely, Tornado tried to move, but she couldn't as her wheels spun and spun. She was well and truly stuck. There was worse to come though. All the noise caused some more snow to come loose from the hillside. The driver and fireman legged it when they heard and saw the snow enclosing in on them. Tornado though couldn't do anything, so she just shut her eyes and braced herself. The snow crashed down onto Tornado and the trucks containing the decorations, showering the land with more snow than it already had. Poor Tornado was snowed under, or buried alive as it were.

Meanwhile, at the National Railway Museum, the other engines were waiting and waiting. Tornado still hadn't arrived with the final set of decorations and they were all now beginning to start grumbling and were also feeling very impatient. They began sounding their whistles angrily, where was Tornado? They couldn't start the party without the final set of decorations, it just wouldn't look complete.

"SILENCE!" called a booming voice which turned out to be the Fat Director, "Now listen up everyone, it's my understanding that Tornado collected the final set of decorations safely, but all the snow from the storm last night has brought the telephone lines down, therefore we must assume that she's stranded." All the engines were now silent because they all felt sorry for Tornado. "Now then, despite the phone lines being down, as it happens I know just what to do. I've noticed that it's not only Tornado who's absent at the moment. And using my mobile, if I can get hold of the driver of the other engine who's missing, we might still have a chance of holding this party. Oh and you lot can help too, so go and get your snow plows fitted because the search party's on, we've got an engine to rescue!" As all the engines left to get their snow plows fitted, the Fat Director took his mobile out of his jacket pocket and began to make a couple of phone calls.

Back on the Severn Valley Railway, Kinlet Hall, running tender first, was bringing in her last passenger train of the day into Kidderminster station, the branch line one. She was pleased when she stopped alongside the platform because it meant she could now start her journey to attending the party. Though she did have to take on more water first. She was uncoupled from the coaches and made her way over to the water tower. Her tanks were just being filled when her driver received a call on his mobile. Kinlet Hall couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Hello…Fat Director sir…And a good day to you too sir…Yes we've just finished our days work now, we're just taking on water before going to the party…what?…Oh my god!…Yes I'm listening carefully sir…ok sir…right, goodbye sir." He then hung up and turned to Kinlet Hall and the fireman who were feeling rather worried over what they'd been hearing, "Bad news you two, Tornado has gone missing with the final set of decorations for the party tonight. The Fat Director has asked us to help the other engines find her and guide her to the National Railway Museum. They can't start the party without those decorations."

"Oh poor Tornado." sighed the fireman sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll find her, whether it's us or another engine." said Kinlet Hall determined. When her tanks were full, she was just about to leave when she heard a whistle. It was rebuilt Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific no.34053 _'Sir Keith Park'_, aka the rebuilt brother of Tangmere. The only piece of rolling stock seemingly behind him was a flatbed truck, on which contained what looked like a big silver coloured snow plow. And indeed it was. As Sir Keith Park puffed towards the station, he stopped just in front of Kinlet Hall on the opposite line and spoke to her.

"Before you go Kinlet Hall, you're gonna need this. The Fat Directors been in touch with us about Tornado and he said that you'd better wear this as a precaution." he told her. Kinlet Hall silently growled angrily, she really didn't like wearing her a snow plow, just like Tornado for all the same reasons because snow plows felt heavy, really uncomfortable and they tend to make the front buffers ache.

"Alright Sir Keith Park." replied Kinlet Hall with a heavy sigh as the workmen who'd also come with Sir Keith Park began to attach the snow plow to Kinlet Hall. After a few minutes of waiting, the snow plow was finally attached and Kinlet Hall was raring to go.

"Ok, lets go lets go, the sooner we find Tornado, the sooner we can get the party started and the sooner I can get this damn uncomfortable snow plow off!" Her driver and fireman just chuckled as they started to fire up their engine.

"Best of luck Kinlet Hall, thanks for visiting us." said Sir Keith Park as Kinlet Hall began to puff away, "Oh and say hello and merry Christmas to my sister Tangmere will you?"

"Don't worry I will. Thanks for having me, goodbye!" called Kinlet Hall as she switched tracks and was now on the mainline beginning her part of the seemingly long search for Tornado and the missing party decorations with the other engines. And with that being said, while they search, it's time for me to shut up and time to cue the music!

_(Cue the T&F Searching Everywhere song)_

_When you can't find something special,_

_And you keep on looking around,_

_Try to stay really cheerful,_

_But you can't help feeling down._

_That's when you need a friend to help you,_

_Brighten up your day,_

_Someone to look and find a clue,_

_To help you on your way._

_Searching everywhere,_

_Up, down, left, right, look over there,_

_Searching everywhere,_

_Under, over, up in the air._

_All the engines working together,_

_Looking around to see what they find,_

_Everyday whatever the whether,_

_Help you look down every line,_

_So when you're feeling down and out,_

_Don't you ever give up,_

_That's when you need your friends about,_

_To take you to the top._

_Searching everywhere,_

_Up, down, left, right, look over there,_

_Searching everywhere,_

_Under, over, up in the air._

_Searching everywhere,_

_Up, down, left, right, look over there,_

_Searching everywhere,_

_Under, over, up in the air._

_Searching everywhere,_

_Up, down, left, right, look over there,_

_Searching everywhere,_

_Under, over, up in the air._

_Searching everywhere!_

Hours had passed now, the New Years party would be starting soon and the engines still couldn't find Tornado. They looked through stations, yards, junctions and sidings but all to no avail. Kinlet Hall had teamed up with her brother Rood Ashton Hall to find Tornado. Armed with their snow plows, they were both hauling one carriage each which was filled with workmen who were all armed with shovels in case they come across any problems with the snow. Generally when they came across snow on the track, thanks to their snow plows, the snow would slip away easily. Although they did sometimes find deeper drifts which were harder to clear, but they still managed to get through safely. Presently, they came to a drift that was seemingly deeper than the rest, well just by looking at it, it was certainly larger than most. With their snow plows, they charged at this massive snowdrift, only managing to just push it further upwards. The siblings began reversing for another attempt when they suddenly heard a faint sound.

"HELP!"

"Hush!" said Kinlet Hall, "I can hear something."

"It was probably just the wind sister." replied Rood Ashton Hall.

"HELP!"

"No brother, listen!" insisted Kinlet Hall as the muffle cry changed its words.

"OVER HERE!"

"Look, it's Tornado!" cried the siblings together after they finally realised who that voice belonged to as they could just about see the body of Tornado buried inside the snowdrift, "Come on, the poor young engine must be frozen to the frames in there!" The workmen got out of the carriages and gathered together to discuss over what to do about the matter. It certainly took some time do decide how to dig away the heavy drifts of snow. The driver and fireman of Tornado, who'd taken shelter at a nearby cottage, joined the rescue. In the end, they all came to a decision to just do their best to clear the snow as fast as they could with their shovels. The shovelling was tiring and rather frustrating work, and it did indeed take a very long time. Eventually, the workmen felt that they'd cleared enough snow for the GWR Halls to pull Tornado and the decorations out of the snowdrift. The last of the trucks were no longer buried which should be enough for them, while Tornado was still reasonably covered but her rear coupling was visible. With that done, one workman fetched some rope from one of the carriages. He then removed Rood Ashton Halls snow plow and then attached one end of the rope to Rood Ashton Hall who was going to pull the decorations free first. Rood Ashton Hall pulled hard and the decorations were soon out of the snowdrift, though the trucks were still covered in snow. Rood Ashton Hall then began to reverse the trucks into the nearest goods loop. Kinlet Hall also had to reverse because the trucks were on her line. The nearest goods loop was only a couple miles down the line. Rood Ashton Hall had to pull carefully so the trucks wouldn't overbalance and be pulled over by the rope. With the trucks soon parked in the goods loop, the rope was unattached from the trucks and then the siblings puffed back to a still buried Tornado. It was now time for the big one, it was time for Kinlet Hall to rescue Tornado. Some workman released the other end of the rope from Rood Ashton Hall while others removed Kinlet Halls snow plow. After that, while some other workmen reattached Rood Ashton Hall to his snow plow, they attached one end to Kinlet Halls front coupling and the other end to the rear coupling of Tornado, which was no longer buried in snow. When the all clear signal was given, Kinlet Hall slowly began to pull. Tornado was very heavy, especially as she was buried in snow. As Kinlet Hall continued to pull, her wheels began to slip and spin against the icy rails.

"Come on sister." cheered Rood Ashton Hall, "You can do it." Kinlet Hall continued to pull as hard as she could. With one more big effort, at last, along with the missing New Year decorations, Tornado was finally freed from the snowdrift. All the workmen cheered delightfully. Rood Ashton Hall sounded his whistle happily but carefully because he didn't want to cause a second snowy landslide.

"Well done sister!" he cheered, "I knew you could do it! Tornado's now free and we can now have our party!" Kinlet Hall breathed a collective sigh of relief, she felt very proud. Just then, they heard something. This strange sound was heard after every couple of seconds and it was getting louder and louder.

"A…AA…AAA…"

"Uh oh, Tornado's about to sneeze, take cover everyone!" shouted one of the workmen alarmingly. So the workmen hurried into their carriages while Rood Ashton Hall and Kinlet Hall just closed their eyes awaiting the snow covering Tornado to probably fly off of her and onto them.

"AAAA…ACHOO!" Snow was thrown off of Tornado and was launched absolutely everywhere. It finally settled down and poor Tornado was feeling very cold, but also very relieved.

"Oh, thank goodness, I'm now free from all this damn snow that was attempting to bury me alive." she said happily.

"AHEM!" Tornado looked behind her and saw that her sneeze had thrown the snow off of her and onto both Rood Ashton Hall and Kinlet Hall, who were both glaring angrily at her over the fact that their respective paintworks have now been ruined.

"Err, whoops. Hehe, sorry about that guys." Tornado blushed sheepishly.

The workmen began removing the snow from the two siblings. When they'd finished, the driver of Tornado checked over her functioning parts in the cab to make sure they were still working, while the fireman stoked her fire. Tornado was soon feeling as warm as toast and steam begin to hiss from her pistons. With Tornado fired up, the three engines all set off for home with Rood Ashton Hall and Kinlet Hall, with their snow plows reattached, leading the way running side by side in order for them to clear anymore snow from the tracks, if there was any, to make a clear path for Tornado who had the trucks filled with the decorations rattling merrily behind her. While en route to York where they knew the Fat Director would be waiting for them, they had the chance to look around at the snow stained scenery. Tornado had to admit, although she's not really a massive fan of snow, it did have its advantages, the scenery looked absolutely breathtaking. However, it would never be as breathtaking as her and she knew this because in her mind, she considers herself to be what they would call 'sexy'. Nothing was a match to her stunning BR express blue paint, even when she eventually gets repainted into BR apple green at some point in 2014, she still believes that she'll be a sexy looking engine.

"It's no wonder that steam enthusiasts call me a sexy beast." she said proudly to herself with a massive smile on her face, "It's because I AM sexy, no matter what paintjob I'm wearing, and I'm proud of it." Tornado really was in love with herself.

The sun was setting by the time they arrived at the National Railway Museum. The Fat Director was delighted to see that Tornado was okay.

"Oh Tornado, thank goodness you're alright!" he exclaimed happily, "Well done Rood Ashton and Kinlet, you Halls have done a great job in finding her."

"Thank you sir." replied the siblings together proudly.

"I sincerely hope the decorations are unharmed though." added the Fat Director as he made his way over to the trucks behind Tornado and opened all of their doors. To his massive relief, all the decorations were still inside and in check.

"Oh phew, the decorations are unmarked." he exclaimed, "Right, the workmen here at the museum will get all these final decorations up while I call all the drivers to return their engines here as I conclude that our search party's finally over!" Tornado, Rood Ashton Hall and Kinlet Hall sounded their whistles loudly and delightfully.

That night, all the engines had returned to the National Railway Museum and were gathered around, however the whole place was blackened out. Just then, a booming voice belonging to the Fat Director called out…

"One, two, three!" Suddenly, like magic, the museum was flooded with multi-coloured lights. Guests and families were also in attendance along with all the engines.

"Ladies, gentlemen and children, I give you three cheers for Tornado the big, young, blue engine and all her friends who've made this occasion possible!" The crowd cheered and applauded and all the engines blew their whistles. "Right then, as of this moment, there's no need for me to be talking, so workmen, light up those fireworks and lets get this party started!" Everyone cheered as fireworks and rockets began to go off and bang up in the night sky. The party had now officially begun. Along with the fireworks, there was also music as the song 'Rock The Party' by Five began to play loudly on the stereo speakers. Everyone was very excited about entering 2014. As the fireworks went banging, the music was booming and all the guests and families were chatting with one another. As Tornado watched all these actions taking place, she awed at the moment she saw the reaction given from Tangmere after Kinlet Hall told her about Sir Keith Park's message. Just then, a thought came into her mind which she was keen to share with the engine that was parked next to her which was Clan Line.

"It's no fun getting stuck in the snow." she whispered to the Merchant Navy.

"At least it was worth it for this party Tornado." replied Clan Line.

"Indeed it was." smiled Tornado, "Happy New Year Clan Line." She then called out…

"Happy New Year everyone!"

**And that's my New Year special done! I hope you enjoyed my New Year version of TTTE episode **_**'Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree'**_**. Please review and I request criticism.**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE - this special's the series finale. I'll leave it up to you to decide for a second series. If you want a second series then review and let me know.**

**And on that bombshell, it's time to end, thanks very much for reading, have a very happy New Year and all the best for 2014, goodnight!**


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